ISLAMABAD, Aug 24 (APP):The National Assembly (NA) on Monday passed four important legislative proposals and rejected all amendments moved by the opposition lawmakers on two bills.
Advisor to Prime Minister on Parliamentary Affairs Dr. Babar Awan move the Limited Liability Partnership (Amendment) Bill, 2020; the Companies (Amendment) Bill, 2020; the Islamabad Capital Territory Waqf Properties Bill, 2020 and the Anti-Money Laundering (Second Amendment) Bill, 2020.
All these bills were passed with majority vote and the amendments of the opposition on the Islamabad Capital Territory Waqf Properties Bill, 2020 and the Anti-Money Laundering (Second Amendment) Bill, 2020 were also rejected by the House.
The first bill – the Limited Liability Partnership (Amendment) Bill 2020 – has suggested various amendments to Limited Liability Partnership Act 2017 to ensure compliance with the recommendations on anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism issued by FATF. Pakistan’s 2019 Mutual Evaluation Report (MER) on FATF Recommendations issued by the Asia Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG) highlighted lack of obligations for limited liability partnerships (LLPs) to hold ultimate beneficial ownership information. The report also highlighted lack of penalties for breach of AML/CFT requirements by LLFs. Accordingly, the proposed amendments aim at enhancing the transparency of legal persons, to fulfill the recommended actions in MER, and to enhance the country’s ranking against the aforesaid standards. These are also aimed to conform to the action plan approved by the National Executive Committee on AML/CFT for compliance with the FATF recommendations.
The second bill – the Companies (Amendment) Bill 2020 – has suggested various amendments to Companies Act 2017 to ensure compliance with the recommendations on anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism issued by FATF.
Another bill – the Islamabad Capital Territory Waqf Properties Bill, 2020 – is regarding proper management and administration of waqf properties within Islamabad Capital Territory.
In the Anti-Money Laundering (Second Amendment) Bill, 2020, it has been proposed to increase penalty on money laundering on individual. It also suggests that financial institutes would be required to provide information for suspicious transactions, and would be required to maintain records of financial transactions for five-year period.
Seven periodical reports, three statutory reports, one calling attention notice and one legislative proposal appearing on `Orders of the Day’ were not taken up in the House.
After passage of the four bills, the Speaker Asad Qaisar announced to prorogue the session.
