The Financial Monitoring Unit launches a new Data Center to tackle money laundering and terrorism financing 

Karachi, 10 February 2017 - Tracking down money laundering and terrorist financing will now be easier thanks to a new high tech data centre that was launched by the Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan, the British High Commissioner, and the Representative of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) at the Financial Monitoring Unit (FMU) in Karachi today.

The inauguration of the Data Center is the result of the 3 year joint efforts among the UK Department for International Development (DFID), FMU, and the UNODC with a vision to tackle money laundering and terrorism financing in Pakistan. 

The new Data Center at FMU fully equipped with the state of art IT equipment will be the main integrated mechanism to operationalize the goAML system in the future. Developed by the UNODC as one of the strategic responses to combat money-laundering, the goAML system is an integrated software solution that enables monitoring collecting, analysing any suspicious financial transactions in a speedy, efficient, and intelligent manner and facilitates the rapid exchange information among banks, industries, and law enforcement agencies and judicial authorities.

On the occasion, Mr. Cesar Guedes, Country Representative UNODC, said, "Today will be recorded and remembered as another meaningful day for the people of Pakistan in making one more step forward towards combatting corruption and building a society in which suspicious financial transactions and financing of terrorism are monitored, deterred and prevented." At the same time, he highlighted the need to enhance the capacity of the relevant stakeholders to make the goAML system fully operational through the new Data Center in the future. 

Mr. Ashraf Mahmood Wathra, the Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan, thanked the UK government, the FMU, and the UNODC for their dedication and support and advised banks and financial institutions to bring their system in par with the upcoming goAML system. He expressed high hope that the new Data Center along with the implementation of goAML system in the future will lead to a better integrity of the overall financial system in Pakistan.

Mr. Tom Drew, the UK High Commissioner, appreciated the inauguration of the new Data Center as a great chance to increase business opportunities for Pakistan by gaining wider confidence in the financial transaction system.Attended by key financial institutions and government agencies, the inauguration of the Data Center is expected to draw further attention on the importance of joint efforts against money laundering and terrorism financing in Pakistan.