What is Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and what did it say on Pahalgam terror attack? | Explained

While condemning the Pahalgam terror attack that occurred on April 22 killing 26 people, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) stated this and others could not have taken place “without money and means to move funds between terrorist supporters”.

The statement titled “Strengthening efforts to combat terrorist financing" read, “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.”

Indian officials viewed this as an appreciation following New Delhi’s attempts to place Pakistan back on the grey list. Countries on the grey list face heightened scrutiny and are required to follow an action plan, with their progress reviewed every four months. If they fail to demonstrate sufficient improvement, they risk being moved to the blacklist and becoming subject to countermeasures. As of now, the countries on the FATF blacklist (formally called the "Call for action") are Iran, Myanmar, and North Korea.

Earlier, as part of their global outreach programme to highlight India’s stance against terrorism following the recent terror attack, all-party delegations raised concerns about terror financing by Pakistan. They advocated for Pakistan’s reinstatement on the FATF grey list as a measure to curb such funding. Being grey listed (formally called the “Other monitored jurisdictions”) by the FATF restricts a country's access to international financial assistance. Pakistan was placed on the grey list in 2018 and subsequently removed in 2022.

The FATF rarely condemns acts of terrorism; this marks only the third time in the past decade that it has issued a statement condemning a terrorist attack. It had earlier condemned once in 2015 and then in 2019 in severe cases of terrorist attacks because the “international community has felt the severity of the attack”, and focuses that such attacks will not go unpunished, adding it was done by Pakistan-trained terrorists, PTI reported citing sources.

Its headquarter is in Paris, France and was founded by group of seven, an intergovernmental political and economic forum, namely Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States and the European Union (EU) is a "non-enumerated member".

As of 2023, it has 38 member jurisdictions, including India, and two regional organisations, representing most major financial centres worldwide. There are 28 international organisations holding “FATF Observer” status. These include the International Monetary Fund, the United Nations along with its six expert groups, the World Bank, and the OECD. All observer organisations have anti-money laundering as one of their key tasks.

It has announced that it will soon release a "comprehensive analysis of terrorist financing", featuring cases submitted by its global network of 200 jurisdictions.

"The FATF has been working for 10 years to help countries stay ahead of terrorist financing risk - for example, relating to abuse of social media, crowdfunding, and virtual assets. To improve this picture, the FATF will soon release a comprehensive analysis of terrorist financing, compiling cases provided by our Global Network. It will also host a webinar to help public and private sectors understand the risks and stay alert to emerging threats," ANI quoted it as saying.

(With inputs from PTI and ANI)