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This paper aims to provide an analysis of National Accountability Ordinance 1999 (NAO) after June 2022 amendments. It raises a key question whether the new legislation is effective and improves anti-corruption operating system in Pakistan.

This paper performs an analysis of recent amendments incorporated in NAO from the observations of superior courts, United Nations Corruption Convention and Financial Action Task Force (FATF) guidelines and also evaluates new legislation in terms of effectiveness in anti-corruption campaign.

This paper finds that ample amendments are inessential, and thus may largely jeopardize accountability process; changes appear to be intentionally crafted to benefit some selected group of people: the definition of asset is compressed; the onus of proof is shifted on the informer; and provisions of money trail, foreign evidence and protection of approver are abolished; such changes defy to the UN Corruption Convention and FATF guidelines. A legislation endorsed from all stakeholders is suggested; additionally, improved strategies proposed to strengthen accountability process while keeping in view the constitutional issues relevant in the course of anti-corruption investigations.

This paper is unique in the context of the anti-corruption strategies in Pakistan, highlighting the legal laxness of new government regarding corruption and money laundering.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the current state of corruption in Pakistan and evaluate attempts by the government to combat its entrenched corruption culture.

The paper shows that Pakistan’s legacy of British colonial rule, its ethno-linguistic conflict and alternating civilian governments and military coups have weakened institutional capabilities, hindered capacity building and allowed systemic corruption to flourish there. Pakistan’s many anti-corruption efforts failed because they were used to attack political foes instead of strengthening institutional capabilities.

Pakistan has maintained its highly authoritarian form of governance inherited from the British in 1947. The ruling elite view the state as a milch cow for their personal enrichment and this attitude is also reflected in the performance of its bureaucracy. Existing rules of conduct and administration are not enforced as citizens encounter corruption in their dealings with officials. At the policy level, key decisions are often made to benefit the decision makers. The paper concludes that without political will no significant improvement in the state of corruption in Pakistan is likely to occur.

This paper will be useful for scholars, policy-makers and anti-corruption practitioners who are interested in corruption in Pakistan and whether the apparent institutionalization of parliamentary democracy has reduced corruption there.

In line with contemporary trends in the developing world, countries in South Asia are under pressure from both political and civil societies and the international donor community to recast their administrative systems. New tools and practices in public governance have been advanced to remedy structural deficiencies, procedural flaws, managerial incompetence, and weak accountability in the public sector. International organizations emphasize the need to improve the relationship between governance and socio-economic outcome; and accountability, transparency, probity, predictability, and participation are acknowledged as essential ingredients for effectively managing development. This article focuses on two South Asian countries (Pakistan and Bangladesh) and examines the various measures adopted by their governments to reshape governance and public management in recent times.

The purpose of this paper is to compare the experiences of the six Asian countries covered in this special issue and explain their different levels of effectiveness in combating corruption.

This paper analyses the policy contexts in these countries, their perceived extent and causes of corruption, and evaluates the effectiveness of their anti-corruption agencies (ACAs).

Brunei Darussalam is less corrupt because it is the smallest, least populated and richest country, without being embroiled in conflict compared to the other five larger countries, which are more populous but poorer and adversely affected by conflict. The Sultan’s political will in combating corruption is reflected in the better staffed and funded Anti-Corruption Bureau, which has prosecuted and convicted more corrupt offenders. By contrast, the lack of political will of the governments in the other five countries is manifested in their ineffective ACAs, which are not independent, lack capacity and resources, and are used against political opponents.

This paper will be useful for those scholars, policy-makers and anti-corruption practitioners interested in how effective these six Asian countries are in combating corruption and the reasons for their different levels of effectiveness.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the five mistakes made by political leaders in Asian countries in combating corruption. These mistakes constitute the cycle of failure which must be broken for Asian countries to succeed in fighting corruption.

This paper is based on the comparative evaluation of the effectiveness of the anti-corruption measures adopted by various Asian countries.

The cycle of failure in combating corruption in Asian countries arises from their governments’ reliance on corrupt political leaders and the police, and multiple anti-corruption agencies as attack dogs or paper tigers.

This paper would be of interest to those policymakers, anti-corruption practitioners, and scholars, who are concerned with enhancing the effectiveness of anti-corruption strategies in their countries by breaking the cycle of failure.

The efficient and strong financial system is considered as the backbone of the economy to function properly along with to attract international capital flow, investment and employment. But, on the other hand, weakness in the financial system will create negative impacts on the economy by sabotaging society’s trust in the financial system. In Pakistan, the key component of the financial sector is the banking sector including conventional and Islamic banking. Pakistan is among the pioneer of the Islamic banking sector, its share of 15.6% deposits in the total banking sector. This paper aims to analyze the effectiveness of anti-money laundering (AML) legislation in the Islamic banking sector of Pakistan.

The study is doctrinal legal research. The semi-structured interview approach for analysis have been adopted to analyze the materials used in the study to attain the objective. The survey approach was used in critically analyzing the effectiveness of AML laws in conjunction with Islamic banking of Pakistan by incorporating the expert’s views and perceptions. The interviews conducted through electronic media including email, WhatsApp and LinkedIn.

The findings revealed that the State Bank of Pakistan is playing an active role and bringing stringent updates and regulations from time to time for the enforcement of these legislations. The irony is that these laws are not implemented in a proper way due to a lack of coordination among legislative authorities and the banking sector.

As money laundering is an international recognized offense, the study is based on only the Islamic banking sector of Pakistan. This is a very extensive and contentious matter, and this study is impeding money laundering operations and their analysis to the Islamic banks only.

It is recommended that more efficient laws and regulatory environments are a needed in the Islamic banking sector of Pakistan accompanied by proper and timely implementations of these laws with the joint collaboration of national and international agencies.

This is the first study that incorporated the expert’s opinion from diverse background to analyze the effectiveness of AML legislation with special reference to the Islamic banking sector of Pakistan and contribute significantly in providing greater insight in improving AML legislations in Pakistan.

Pakistan has made significant progress since its birth in 1947, keeping in mind the enormous difficulties it was confronted with at that time. Pakistan's development has not been commensurate with its potential. The formation of Pakistan, as is the case with a number of developing countries in Asia, South America and Africa, is a story of betrayal by its politicians and leaders, the mismanagement and inefficiencies of economic managers, and the pilferage of national wealth and resources by the privileged and influential. This has been compounded by external shocks: the increase of oil prices during the late 1970s, the international recession during the late 80s, and recent economic sanctions against Pakistan. The country is, therefore, now straddled with numerous economic, social and political problems.

This article aims to empirically investigate the influence of socio-cultural and political factors and actors on the perceived autonomy and control of state agencies in Pakistan. Taking an institutional perspective, which envisages a diverse course of agency reforms, owed to varied national cultures, historical paths and traditional mindsets, the authors argue that the institutional theory provides an explanation to the autonomy and control status of the agencies.

Data were collected from 39 senior public officials and governing board members in federal agencies by conducting in-depth semi-structured interviews. Thematic analysis was performed using NVivo-12 for data analysis.

The results disclose that the agencies operate within an overriding politico-administrative culture of intervention and supremacy of the central government. There is a close relationship between the political actors and actors' implementing agents, the bureaucrats. Although the disaggregated public agencies are created under the agency model, a culture of political influence and control still prevails within them. Among the socio-cultural factors, corruption is reported as a critical influencing factor for agency autonomy.

The study emphasizes the need to adapt and modify agencification practices in developing countries based on the political, socio-cultural and administrative contextual factors and actors and the varying degrees of influence the practices exercise over the Government machinery.

This study unveils the implications of the new public management (NPM)-led agency model in Pakistan, which was primarily adopted as a part of the structural adjustment program (SAP) under loan conditionality from international donor agencies and explores the indigenous doctrines that govern agencies functioning under ministries.

This paper aims to provide a review of Anti-Money-Laundering (AML) after the latest amendments, i.e. Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020 in Pakistan.

This paper performs a detailed review of AML and related laws and amendments to record notable changes and improvements in the recent amendments and drew a comparison among these legal amendments.

This paper finds that recent amendments are essential and judiciously crafted to cover the legal clinches, ensuring effective implementation of AML laws and positive expected outcomes for Pakistan.

This paper is unique in the context of the ongoing struggle against money laundering (ML) in Pakistan; covering the legal progress of Pakistan regarding ML, corruption and terrorism financing.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the importance of mission and vision in the process of state development. Using the case of Pakistan, it will be argued that state organizations do not develop and find the right direction without outlining a clear mission and vision which will be beneficial to all citizens, who are the real stakeholders.

Yin (2003) and Baxter and Jack (2008) argue that case study is an enriched method to explore a complex relationship. The complex relationship may be understood better by qualitative methods than quantitative. Following their suggestion, case study method will be adopted to understand the relationship between the mission and vision and state development. In this study, Pakistan will be used as a case. Moreover, the technique of historical analysis will be employed to understand this relationship. Historical analysis is important because the repercussions of current actions can only be evaluated in the future.

The paper shows the importance of “mission and vision” for state development. Using Pakistan as the case, it is argued that a state can lose its direction without having a clear mission and vision. It is further contended that it is not erection of institutions or verbal/written pronouncements and slogans, but a strong commitment to the mission and the vision brings the required change, which helps to develop a state. In the future research, the researcher can further examine the role of mission and vision in relation to state development.

The limitation of this study is that it has only focussed on the leadership and politics of Pakistan. In the future, a comparative study investigation may be useful.

The research is useful for political leaders, political scientists and public management researchers.

The research is unique and original that it evaluates the role of leadership and the development of the state from the perspective of mission and vision, which has not been done in the earlier research. Moreover, the paper elaborates the concept of state development.