The global money laundering and terror financing watchdog Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has condemned the “brutal terrorist attack” in Pahalgam on April 22, 2025 and expressed “grave concern” about such terror attacks. Without naming any country, the FATF in a statement released Monday also said that the Pahalgam attack and similar terror attacks could not have occurred without movement of funds between “terrorist supporters”.
“Terrorist attacks kill, maim and inspire fear around the world. The FATF notes with grave concern and condemns the brutal terrorist attack in Pahalgam on 22 April 2025. This, and other recent attacks, could not occur without money and the means to move funds between terrorist supporters,” it said.
The statement by the FATF comes after it held its plenary meeting last week.
The money laundering and terror financing watchdog said it has identified gaps that need to be addressed through its mutual evaluations. It has enhanced its focus on the effectiveness of measures countries have put in place against terrorism, the FATF said, adding that it will soon release a comprehensive analysis of terrorist financing, compiling cases provided by its global network.
Citing a recent statement by the FATF President at the recent No Money for Terror Conference in Munich, the FATF said, “No single company, authority, or country can combat this challenge alone. We must be unified against the scourge of global terrorism. Because terrorists need to succeed only once to achieve their goal, while we have to succeed every time to prevent it.”
The FATF plans to host a webinar to help public and private sectors understand the risks and stay alert to emerging threats, especially from terrorism.
The Indian government had earlier stated its intent to take up terror funding charges against Pakistan to make a case for putting it back in the “grey list” of FATF at the plenary meeting earlier this month.
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Pakistan was put in the grey list in June 2018, and faced “increased monitoring” till it was removed in October 2022.
When Pakistan was taken off the grey list in 2022, it was kept in the enhanced follow-up category by the FATF having been compliant with other recommendations but being ‘partially compliant’ with one recommendation (recommendation 38 of FATF) — a deficiency relating to the coverage of predicate offences. Originally, it was found to be non-compliant on recommendation 38 (R.38), the status for which was then changed to ‘partially compliant’ in the October 2022 review.
In simpler terms, R.38 is regarding mutual legal assistance (MLA) for freezing and confiscation of proceeds of crime, mainly when crime has happened elsewhere and proceeds are in the relevant country (Pakistan in this case).
Recommendation 38 of the FATF requires countries to have authority to take expeditious action in response to requests by other countries to identify, freeze and seize property laundered, proceeds from money laundering or predicate offences. Though Pakistan had issued guidelines for MLA, FATF had noted the deficiencies in its scheme for providing assistance to other countries.
