Financial Monitoring Unit

The Financial Monitoring Unit (Urdu: ادارہ برائے مالیاتی نگرانی‎, abbreviated as FMU) is the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) of Pakistan established under the provisions of Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2010 (Previously Anti-Money Laundering Ordinance, 2007). It is an independent intelligence service department of the Government of Pakistan and primarily responsible for analyzing transactions, money laundering cases, building efforts against the terrorist financing, and all sorts of financial crimes within the jurisdiction of financial laws of Pakistan.

Financial Monitoring Unit
ادارہ برائے مالیاتی نگرانی
Agency overview
HeadquartersKarachi, Pakistan
Employees35 (Approx)
Agency executive
Parent departmentAutonomous
Websitewww.fmu.gov.pk

Ms. Lubna Farooq Malik has been appointed the Director General[1] of the FMU with effect from July 2020. It currently comprises two offices; a head office in Karachi and a Liaison office in Islamabad.

History

In 2007, the Financial Monitoring Unit (FMU) was formed as a department of the State Bank of Pakistan, which is the Central Bank of Pakistan. The FMU was headed by a Director and its reporting entities were the regulated Banking Institutions coming under the ambit of the central bank.[2]

After the approval of the Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2010, FMU was established as an autonomous government agency under the law in order to act as the Financial Intelligence Unit of Pakistan.

Functions

The basic functions of FMU are to receive and analyze the Suspicious Transactions Reports (STRs) as well as Currency Transactions Reports (CTRs) from its designated reporting entities. The FMU may disseminate the Financial Intelligence to the concerned Law Enforcement Agencies (if required) for their further necessary action in this respect.

Another function of this specialized financial intelligence agency is to ensure compliance with the Pakistan's Financial Action Task Force (FATF)’s recommendations on Anti-Money laundering (AML) and terrorist financing. Moreover the unit also acts as the country's face at all international forums related to Anti-Money Laundering & Combating Terrorism financing.

In October 2019, FMU launched its first quarterly newsletter and announced that this new initiative aims to ensure that all the stakeholders including reporting entities are updated on initiatives being undertaken both at domestic and international levels towards development of AML/CFT standards. [3]

Directors General
Name Period
Mr. Azhar Iqbal Qureshi2007
Mr. Allah Rakha Asi2010
Mr. Nauman Qureshi2012
Mr. Mansoor Ahmed Khan2014
Mr. Syed Mansoor Ali2017 - April 2018
Mr. Mansoor Hassan SiddiquiOctober 2018 - March 2020 (Deceased)[4]
Mr. Muneer Ahmad (Acting)March 2020 - June 2020
Ms. Lubna Farooq MalikJuly 2020 - Onwards

Anti-Money Laundering Software (goAML)

The FMU has implemented an Anti-Money Laundering system for the automated detection of possible money laundering and terror financing that uses the banking system. The data centre was launched by the Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan, the British High Commissioner, and the Representative of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) at the Head Office of Financial Monitoring Unit (FMU) located in Karachi.[5]

See also

References
  1. "Appointment of new Director General Financial Monitoring Unit".
  2. "Establishment of Financial Monitoring Unit". State Bank of Pakistan (SBP). 9 July 2007.
  3. "Quarterly Newsletters issued by Financial Monitoring Unit". Financial Monitoring Unit. 30 October 2019.
  4. "The good go early by Shabir Ahmed". 2 April 2020.
  5. "The Financial Monitoring Unit launches a new Data Center to tackle money laundering and terrorism financing". United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). 10 February 2017.


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