Data Centre launched by the Financial Monitoring Unit, Government of Pakistan, to tackle money laundering and terrorism financing- Feb 17, 2017

FMU has recently commissioned a state of the art Data Centre which was inaugurated by the Governor, State Bank of Pakistan, the British High Commissioner and the Representative of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) on Friday the 10th of February 2017 in a simple and dignified ceremony.

For the purpose of inauguration and to provide some insight on the benefits of this Data Centre, FMU had invited Presidents and CEO’s of Banks, Exchange Companies, Senior Management of SBP, SECP, NAB, ANF, FIA, FBR and Customs.

This new, state of the art, integrated data centre for anti-money laundering and countering terrorism funding was established with the financial assistance of the UK Department for International Development (DFID). The centre hosts a specialized analytical suite of software (goAML) developed by UNODC which will enable the Financial Monitoring Unit to automate collection and analysis of suspicious financial transactions being received from banks, exchange companies and other reporting entities in Pakistan and more efficiently disseminate financial intelligence to designated law enforcement agencies.

Some excerpts from speeches of the dignitaries is as follows: The Governor of the State Bank, Mr. Ashraf Wathra said: “I am confident that FMU’s Data Centre will strengthen its ability to generate better financial intelligence which would help our law enforcement agencies in successful investigations and prosecutions of money launderers and terrorism financers.”

His Excellency Mr. Thomas Drew CMG, British High Commissioner, said: “The UK Government is proud to have supported the establishment of the Financial Monitoring Unit’s data centre, as part of the Pakistan Government’s wider commitment to tackle financial crime. This is a great step forward by Pakistan to meet its international obligations and close the space for money laundering and terrorism financing in the country.”

The Representative for the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Mr Cesar Guedes said: “The launch of the data centre at FMU today and its future utilisation for the goAML system supported by the UNODC will be recorded as a significant step taken for the People of Pakistan to build a transparent, just, and fair society in which suspicious financial transactions and financing of terrorism are monitored, deterred and prevented.”

The Director General for the Financial Monitoring Unit, Syed Mansoor Ali, said:

“The fusion of this hard and soft technology is ready to give FMU the edge that we required, and with the assistance of our reporting entities, FMU will disseminate financial intelligence with a lot more substance, which will eventually assist our LEAs in successful conclusion of investigations”