Pakistan

Findings

1. Pakistan's National Assembly Standing Committee on Finance & Revenue has approved the Foreign Exchange Regulations (Amendment) Bill 2019 and Anti-Money Laundering (Amendment) Bill 2019 to criminalize money laundering.
2. The government has established a multi-agency Assets Recovery Unit to retrieve assets hidden overseas.
3. The Federal Board of Revenue enforced the Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Rules 2019 to provide for the confiscation of undeclared accounts and assets being held in name of another person but being purchased by someone else.
4. The enactment of the Companies Act 2017 is a major development in the context of governance and transparency of corporations and other legal entities. The Act puts a high emphasis on the requirement of disclosure of beneficial ownership for all the legal entities following the recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).
   

Recommendations

1. The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) has recently notified additional provisions in the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Regulations, 2018. The focus of these latest provisions has been enhanced towards high-risk areas. However, there is a need to implement Simplified Due Diligence (SDD) for low risk customers as well.

Findings

1. More needs to be done to ensure full compliance with UNCAC in areas such as private sector corruption, asset recovery, political financing and effective whistleblower protection.
2. The Competition Commission of Pakistan is a designated anti-collusion body with adequate independence, which investigates and sanctions companies involved in collusive practices.
3. The Elections Act 2017 requires political parties to submit to the Election Commission of Pakistan their annual financial statements and lists of donors. However, there is no provision in the Elections Act 2017 which requires the political campaign finances to be verified or audited.

Recommendations

1. It is essential that the Ministry of Planning, Development and Reform develops indicators to measure progress against corruption and gather data on bribery and other forms of corruption.
2. The Government should strengthen anti-corruption agencies and build capacity of its employees, professional expertise and specialized training particularly at investigation level.
3. Election Commission code of conduct for internal democratic governance of Political Parties, should be strictly enforced
4. The political parties must have independent audits, disclose their source of funding, financial spending and make audit reports online for public scrutiny.

Findings

1. Pakistan‘s legal framework requires civil servants and Parliamentarians to declare their income, assets and interests. However there is no mandatory provision for proactive disclosure on regular basis.
2. There are well defined rules under Public Procurement Regulatory Authority Ordinance 2002, however the legal framework provides exceptions that may be vulnerable to misuse
3. The country needs to demonstrate progress towards its commitment to Open Government. An important step in this regard pertains to Fiscal Transparency which can be ensured through Open Budget.
4. The Standing Committee on Law and Justice of National Assembly Pakistan passed the draft Whistleblower Protection and Vigilance Commission Bill in June 2019.

1. A requirement on disclosure of beneficial owners should be mandated to ensure transparency in public procurement.
2. The government must oblige its ministries and departments to establish fully functional e-procurement portals.
3. Mechanisms should be designed to engage any civil society organization during budget formulation.
4. Pass whistleblower protection legislation at provincial levels

Findings

1. The contentious Pakistan Electronic Crime Bill became law in September 2017. Its provisions contain vague language that could permit authorities broad powers to censor online content in the name of preserving national security.
2. The federal government promulgated The Right of Access to Information Bill 2017, which introduces Information Commissions to institutionalize an effective enforcement mechanism of RTI.

Recommendations

1. Right to Information Commissions have been set up at federal and provincial levels across the country, but the respective governments must strive to ensure their proper functioning and ask respective ministries and government departments to appoint Public Information Officers
2. The government shall ensure that civil society and media has the freedom and space to actively speak against corruption without reprisals
3. The government needs to embrace and facilitate adoption of the concept of Open Government Data. It should fulfil its commitment regarding Open Government Partnerships where it failed to submit the Action Plan and is currently designated as “Inactive”