Senate Standing Committee on Finance has given approval to the proposed Anti Money Laundering (AML) law contingent to the exclusion of tax fraud offenses. The committee meeting presided over by the Senator Saleem Mandivwala was informed by an expert on international law that approval of proposed powers would make the law enforcement agencies very powerful. He further stated that Financial Action Task Force (FATF) does not require inclusion of ordinary tax fraud in AML. Thus, the committee refused to approve the proposed AML till the government withdraws tax fraud from it.
Chairman of the committee said the way government has made fiscal offenses part of the law, no one would support them. This is the third time that the proposed law has been turned down by the committee knowing that how important was approval of the law for Finance Ministry though it was highlighted by Joint Secretary Ministry of Finance (Banking), Akbar Sharifzada. "Approval of proposed law is important for Finance Ministry before September 26," he said, adding that the law is requirement from the UNO, the ILO and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The committee members remarked that the approval of law would result in the withdrawal of money by public from banks. Another member said that Finance Minister, Governor State Bank of Pakistan and Chairman FBR would have to remove the concerns of committee if they want the law to be cleared by the committee. The committee was also informed that there is a deadlock between creditors and debtors on the Corporate Rehabilitation Law.
Chairman of the committee said the Corporate Rehabilitation Law has to be framed in a way to save the borrowers from the creditors. It is important that interest of creditors and borrowers are watched.
On the issue of the Corporate Rehabilitation Bill, 2015, SECP officials informed the committee that the Standing Committee on Finance, Revenue, Economic Affairs, Statistics and Privatisation in its meeting held on 2 8-07-2015 had taken up the discussion on the Corporate Rehabilitation Bill, 2015 wherein it was explained by the SECP that the proposed Corporate Rehabilitation Bill, 2015 is the same draft bill which was prepared by the SECP and was shared with stakeholders. It was further proposed that since the subject matter is actively under consideration of the Government and necessary consultations are being held with all stakeholders, the Government is of the view that the proposed bill be deferred until deliberations on the draft law are completed. Resultantly, the Senate Standing Committee was pleased to recommend that "the SECP should review and revise the Corporate Rehabilitation Bill, 2015 within 6/8 months and the revised amendments be brought before the Committee for comparison".
In this regard it is stated that the Pakistan Banks' Association (PBA) under the supervision of State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) is in the process of finalising the draft Corporate Rehabilitation Act. The PBA has so far held two stakeholders' consultation sessions in Karachi and Lahore on 27-08-2015 and 03-09-2015. Based upon the recommendations of the stakeholders, PBA will revise the draft Corporate Rehabilitation Act and will share the same with the SECP. PBA has requested for three months' time to complete the exercise in hand, SECP officials added.
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