Govt raises threshold for currency transaction reports to Rs3m as anti-money laundering framework reviewed

ISLAMABAD: The government has enhanced the currency transaction threshold by 50pc to Rs3 million for banks to trigger suspicious reports to the Financial Monitoring Unit (FMU) of the State Bank of Pakistan under the Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA). The increase in threshold from Rs2m to Rs3m for Currency Transaction Reports (CTRs) under the framework for analysing Suspicious Transaction Reports (STRs) and CTRs was approved by the National Executive Committee (NEC) on Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism (AML-CFT). An STR is reported when a suspicious transaction or activity involving money laundering and terrorism financing is indicated. However, a CTR is required to be reported when a cash transaction is equal to or exceeds the specified threshold — now raised to Rs3m.

The NEC, led by Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb, is responsible for setting limits for banks, financial institutions or other agencies dealing with financial transactions to generate CTRs and STRs on the amount of currency transactions through notifications in the official Gazette. It serves as a strategic forum for strengthening Pakistan’s AML-CFT framework and ensuring timely coordination, inter-agency cooperation and consistent monitoring for effective implementation of the measures discussed. The committee also approved the inclusion of Section 28 of the Pakistan Maritime Zones Act 2023 in Schedule I of the AMLA, meaning that maritime piracy has been covered as a predicate offence. Section 28 of the Maritime Zones Act 2023 defines “piracy” as any illegal act of violence, detention or depredation committed for private ends by the crew or the passengers of a private ship or a private aircraft and directed against another ship or aircraft or against persons or property…