Pakistan to mandate public asset disclosures for top civil servants by June

The Pakistan government will amend the Civil Servants Act to ensure mandatory declaration of both domestic and foreign assets held by government employees or their family members.

This amendment is expected to be enacted by June 2025, following a delay from the original February 2025 deadline due to legislative process constraints.

According to the International Monetary Fund country report released on Saturday, the government has committed to operationalize the Government Servants (Conduct) Rules 1964 (Sections 12, 13, and 13-A), which sets down guidelines for the professional conduct and behavior of government employees. Specifically, Sections 12, 13, and 13-A relate to asset declarations and financial disclosures.

Consistent with the Right to Information Act of 2017, the amendment will require high-level public officials (BPS 17-22) to declare both domestic and foreign assets beneficially owned by them or family members.

The information will be digitally filed and publicly accessible through the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) with sufficient safeguards for data protection and privacy of personal information, such as ID numbers, residential addresses, and bank account or bond numbers.

A robust framework with adequate resources and tools will be established for the Establishment Division to conduct risk-based verification. The Establishment Division and FBR will issue regulations to centralize collection, digitize submissions, publish information, and verify the submitted data, with support from relevant federal ministries.

A robust framework, including adequate resources and tools, will be established for the Establishment Division to conduct risk-based verification (end-February 2025 SB, reset to end-June 2025), the document stated.

Thereafter, the Establishment Division and FBR will issue regulations to centralize collection, digitize submissions, publish information (subject to appropriate safeguards), and verify the submitted data.

Cabinet approval to publish the full UNCAC Review Report is expected following an assessment by the relevant cabinet committee led by the Law Ministry.

Banks to access provincial asset declarations

The SBP, FBR, and FMU continue to facilitate banks' access to asset declarations of high-level federal public officials (BPS 17-22), which has helped banks comply with their Anti-Money Laundering obligations and better risk-profile their customers who are politically exposed persons.

In December 2024, the FBR launched a new digital portal (Customer Due Diligence Online Portal) to electronically receive information requests from banks and provide timely responses to such requests (typically within 24 hours).

In line with their commitments under the National Fiscal Pacts, the provinces, with support from the FBR, Establishment Division, and Ministry of Finance, will issue respective regulations to similarly grant banks access to asset declarations of high-level provincial public officials (BPS 17-22).