Overview
- Published on November 19, the governance report finds Pakistan’s anti‑money‑laundering safeguards insufficient to contain systemic risk.
- High‑risk exposure concentrates in banking, real estate, construction, public procurement and activities involving politically exposed persons.
- Illicit flows are frequently concealed through shell companies, misuse of corporate structures and informal transfer systems such as hawala.
- The IMF cites weak enforcement marked by judicial delays, drawn‑out trials, very low conviction rates and courts susceptible to outside pressure in sensitive cases.
- The report notes NAB often needs about four months to open inquiries, authorities report Rs 944 million in fines on 17 banks in 2023–24, and concerns persist over selective enforcement, limited FBR capacity to supervise DNFBPs and scarce publication of AML statistics.