Islamabad, Oct 13: Government to Launch FBR Portal for Public Disclosure of Bureaucrats’ and Officers’ Assets. New asset declaration through FBR portal through which assets declaration of public officials BPS 17-22 and their spouses for domestic and foreign assets will be submitted has been assured to the IMF.
This was to be done in compliance with the country’s 2017 Right to Information Act as well as enhance the implementation of Sections 12, 13, and 13-A of the Government Servants (Conduct) Rules 1964.
Amending the Civil Servants Act of 1973: to make high-level public officials’ (BPS 17-22) asset declarations of domestic and foreign assets beneficially owned by them or a member of their family be digitally filed and to be publicly accessible through FBR with strong safeguards regarding data protection and privacy of the personal information, including identification numbers, residential addresses, bank accounts, or bond numbers, the government
The SBP, FBR, and FMU are still in favor of banks having access to high-level public officials’ asset declarations (BPS17–22). This has made it easier for banks to meet their AML/CFT requirements and more accurately risk-profile their politically exposed clientele. To execute the FBR guidelines on access to asset declarations, the SBP is working with banks to build their standard operating procedures in this regard.
The FBR Portal plans to introduce a new digital platform by the end of September in order to promptly accept and address these requests. The government and provinces have been working together to draft legislation that would allow banks to access high-ranking provincial public officials in a similar manner (BPS17–22).
According to the IMF study, the government would keep an eye on how banks are using asset declarations by conducting regular assessments and addressing any issues found.
