By NNN-Bernama
New Delhi : Disturbed by the illegal outflow of money, the Bangladeshi government plans to sign agreements with six countries, including Malaysia, to prevent Bangladeshis from siphoning off money out of the country.
Bangladesh Bank’s Financial Intelligence Unit is fine-tuning a bilateral agreement with Bank Negara Malaysia to curb money-laundering, which the interim government viewed as a serious national problem.
“It is a serious problem for us and we will be signing an agreement with Malaysia to exchange information to stop people from siphoning off money out of the country,” a senior Bangladesh Bank official familiar with the agreement told Bernama from Dhaka.
Besides Malaysia, Bangladesh plans to sign similar pacts with Hong Kong, Singapore, UK, United Arab Emirates and the US, said the official.
The Bangladeshi authorities would set up a national taskforce, comprising members from the Attorney General’s office, Home Ministry and the central bank, to liaise with foreign counterparts to reclaim the illegal assets taken out of the country.
About 10 Bangladeshi officials would attend World Bank-funded training themed “Stolen Assets Recovery” in Switzerland later this month.
A new Anti-Money Laundering Ordinance is also being put in place to empower Bangladesh Bank, its central bank, to recover the money.
Last month, Sri Lanka’s Central Bank signed a similar agreement with Malaysia to deal with cross-border financing and money-laundering.