Heads of 11-PSBs to appear before the Standing Committee on Finance on Tuesday
NEW DELHI, JUN 24
On Tuesday, resources said, heads of 11-kingdom owned banks will apprise a parliamentary committee about the troubles of mounting horrific loans and growing fraud cases. They can be acting before the Standing Committee on Finance, headed with the aid of veteran Congress leader M Veerappa Moily, which is looking into ‘Banking Sector in India- Issues, Challenges, and the Way Forward, which includes Non- Performing Assets/ Stressed Assets in Banks/Financial Institutions.
Top officials of IDBI Bank, UCO Bank, Central Bank of India, Bank of India, Indian Overseas Bank, Dena Bank, Oriental Bank of Commerce, Bank of Maharashtra, United Bank of India, Corporation Bank, and Allahabad Bank will make displays before the panel and reply to queries on June 26, stated assets.
Many concerns
The banking zone is grappling with growing non-appearing property (NPAs), which touched Rs 8. Ninety-nine lakh crore or 10.11 percent of general advances at December-end 2017. Of the entire gross NPAs, the public area banks accounted for Rs 7.77 lakh crore. The growing variety of frauds has ended up a critical reason for the situation. The number of frauds mentioned through banks increased from 4,693 in economic 2015-16 to five,904 in 2017-18. The fraud quantity at stop-March 2018 become Rs 32,361.27 crore, up from Rs 18,698.Eight crores on the quit of 2015-sixteen.
Earlier this month, RBI Governor Urjit Patel had replied to a host of questions requested by the committee individuals. Patel, sources had said, changed into requested approximately bad loans, financial institution frauds, coins crunch, and different problems. They also stated he confident the panel individuals that steps had been taken to reinforce the banking gadget. It is agreed that Pakistan wishes to enact an Anti-Money Laundering law to comply with its worldwide obligations and commitments. However, there is a growing consensus that the Anti-Money Laundering invoice currently pending earlier than the parliament be changed to contain these duties accurately.
In the wake of publishing September 11 counter-terrorism efforts, and a general desire to eliminate financing opportunities for sponsoring acts of terrorism, it has come to be critical for states on the way to hold track of any suspect transfers of cash. This calls for the help of economic institutions, and maximum banks have already evolved compliance departments with particular Anti Money Laundering (AML) contact points inside such departments. However, Pakistan wishes to enact proper rules for ensuring such compliance and properly investigating, criminalizing, and prosecuting money laundering offenses.
The enactment of an anti-money laundering law has been a timetable item at maximum pinnacle degree meetings, and Pakistan has been below pressure for the short passage of the stated regulation from western governments, mortgage granting establishments, and different worldwide boards together with the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and the Asia Pacific Group (APG).
Furthermore, United Nation Security Council Resolution 1617, handed beneath Chapter VII of the UN Charter and therefore binding on all member international locations, ‘Strongly urges all Member States to enforce the comprehensive, international standards embodied in the FATF Forty Recommendations on Money Laundering and the FATF Nine Special Recommendations on Terrorist Financing.
The Financial Action Task Force, an inter-governmental body whose cause is to improve and promote countrywide and global guidelines to combat money laundering and terrorist financing, developed the Forty plus Nine Recommendations, which now shape the benchmark for anti-money laundering tasks and measures.
The AML invoice is currently pending before the parliament for approval, and the National Assembly Standing Committee on Finance & Revenue (“Committee”) has already been briefed by using Mr. Omar Ayub Khan at the said invoice in advance this month. The Committee has additionally made certain objections to the provisions to the date mentioned.
The Committee is probably to speak about the relaxation of the invoice in the coming week and why provisions of the bill at the moment are beneath consideration. The textual content of the bill has been unfolded through the Committee itself for discussion; the Research Society of International Law (RSIL) thought it appropriate to conduct a workshop for the stakeholders to focus on and speak its concerns regarding the text of the bill. The said workshop changed into attended by using representatives from 20 governmental, sub-country, and monetary agencies, and an effective debate at the situation was consequently initiated.
It is pertinent to say that the said Committee has not been given any felony briefing on the bill. However, RSIL is likely to be invited with the aid of the Committee for a proper presentation on the bill. Eminent attorney and worldwide law expert Mr. Ahmer Bilal Soofi thinks that the invoice presently being debated inside the Parliament travels some distance past the minimum compliance requirements. The bill desires to be modified; otherwise, it shall create extreme operational impediments that allow you to make the minimal compliance tougher.
Resultantly, at the quiet of the day, notwithstanding having made the law, the worldwide community will view Pakistan as not critically complying with anti-money laundering measures and duties. Mr. Soofi represented Pakistan within the UN General Assembly negotiations at the United Nations Convention against Corruption (COC), which contained provisions on cash laundering and participated inside the FATF/APG assessment of Pakistan’s compliance.
From some other factor of view, Pakistan, being a developing country, must try to adopt anti-money laundering and terrorist financing guidelines that allow you to help, guard and build its economy. Pakistan isn’t always best obliged to undertake such rules underneath UNSC Resolution 1617. However, there are other duties under the UN Convention on Drugs, a duty to provide Mutual Legal Assistance to states, a strong global kingdom practice in this appreciate below numerous UN Conventions and annual reporting of anti-money laundering measures by Pakistan below US Law.
In this regard, RSIL considers that there’s no want to create Special Courts on anti-cash laundering, as proposed in the bill. The rate of money laundering has to be framed either within the courts that try predicate offenses or in trendy courts as a stand-alone charge. Other states have now not advocated putting in specialized anti-cash laundering courts.
Furthermore, below worldwide requirements, cash laundering should be considered a stand-alone crime without first convicting a culprit for the predicate offense. The proposed law does now not follow this obligation. Moreover, the FATF Recommendations no longer require it. Why does Pakistan need to set up a parallel judicial device for prosecuting offenses inherently linked with current offenses that might be tried in current courts?
