The government has moved to keep bank accounts of the country's influential persons under watch in line with the new standard of Financial Action Task Force (FATF), official sources said.
The issue is going to be incorporated in the circular of the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU) of the central bank, they added.
The National Coordination Committee on Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism, headed by finance minister AMA Muhith, is scheduled to take a decision on this issue.
A senior official of the ministry of finance (MoF) told the FE Thursday that earlier the bank accounts of foreign nationals, who are politically exposed persons (PEPs), were under special watch in respect of the previous standards set by the FATF, an inter-governmental body which works to promote effective implementation of legal, regulatory and operational measures for combating money laundering and terror financing.
He said the new standard of the FATF has suggested that alongside the bank accounts of foreign influential persons, the bank accounts of local influential people also should come under special scrutiny at their opening and operational stages.
"We are going to put forward the issue before the national coordination committee for a decision. Hopefully it will be passed and accounts of local influential people will come under special monitoring aiming to combat money laundering," the official added.
The BFFU in a circular in 2007 asked the banks to measure risks, confirm source of income before opening bank accounts for PEPs, and monitor their accounts with special attention.
The new standard of FATF has asked to monitor the bank accounts of local PEPs alongside the foreign PEPs. High officials of administrative, judicial, and armed forces are considered as PEPs whose bank accounts should go through special monitoring, another senior MoF official said.
He said instead of using the word 'PEPs' Bangladesh will use the 'influential persons' in the directives of BFIU to be given to the banks. "Use of the word 'PEPs' is considered as sensitive and it may create misunderstandings thus we want 'influential persons' in the BFIU directive," he added.
Official sources said the government is also going to treat earnings from smuggling of migrants as offence under the money laundering prevention act. Smugglers who will send   people abroad illegally despite knowing that their lives and livelihood will face risk will be brought under the money laundering prevention act.
Once approved by the National Coordination Committee on Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism, Bangladesh Bank will incorporate the issue in the money laundering prevention act 2012 as predicate offence through issuing a gazette notification.
The government is also going to make legally binding the collection of information of owner while establishing a new company. There is no legal binding of incorporation of information of owner under the present companies act.
A senior MoF official said many wealthy people open new companies enlisting their family members or friends as owners to hide themselves. "In reality these people are not actual owners of the company and the beneficial owner is different. The FATF wants identifying beneficial owner of company and that's why we are going to amend the companies act."
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