B’desh to request FATF to exclude it from \\\'grey list\\\'

Bangladesh is set to request the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) to exclude it from the 'grey list.'

The request will be made, in consideration of the country's current state of compliance with all of the core recommendations.  

The government would make this request in the upcoming plenary meeting of the FATF's International Cooperation Review Group (ICRG). The plenary will be held next month in Paris.

Bangladesh met all of the core recommendations of the FATF by framing necessary laws and rules, said Debaprosad Debnath, General Manager of Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU).

"We would propose to the FATF to delist Bangladesh from the review by presenting all details about the recent developments. With the delisting, Bangladesh will have the opportunity for its 'exit' from the grey list," he added.

The image of the country in the area of checking money laundering and terror financing will then improve further and it would also encourage other countries to trade with Bangladesh, he added.

After placement of the request, an FATF team would make an on-site visit to Bangladesh to assess the current status of all related developments, Mr Debnath said.

"We hope the country might be delisted by February next," he said.

Framing laws and rules for checking money laundering and terror financing and mutual legal assistance, strengthening the BFIU and establishing online connectivity between agencies were the issues, which the country addressed recently, he added.

"Rules for supporting those laws have been finalised. The BFIU is also working on preparing an authentic text of the laws which will be completed before the next plenary meeting," Mr Debnath said.   

Furthermore, the government is framing a new National Strategy Paper on Money Laundering and Terror Financing for the period between 2014 and 2016. In a review of implementation of the existing strategy paper for the 2011-2013 period, the government found it satisfactory.

The ministry of finance (MoF) recently held a preparatory meeting, ahead of the next plenary meeting.

The meeting, chaired by the Finance Minister, decided to establish full-fledged online connectivity between the law enforcing agencies, prepare a national strategy paper for the 2014-16 period and ensure implementation of the all relevant existing laws concerning money laundering and terror financing.

The Banks and Financial Institutions Division of the MoF and the central bank are scheduled to implement the online connectivity.

The Bangladesh Bank (BB) has installed 'goAML' software for introducing the online system to collect different information including suspicious transaction reports (STRs) and cash transaction reports (CTRs) from banks.

On June 16-21 last, a plenary meeting of the FATF's ICRG review group was held in Oslo of Norway. The FATF holds quarterly plenary meetings to review the status of its member countries.

In the last meeting, the regional review group placed a follow-up report on Bangladesh's compliance with action plans on checking money laundering and terror financing.

In the last plenary meeting in Oslo, it was found that there were deficiencies in preparing rules for anti-money laundering, anti-terrorism and mutual legal assistance laws.

In October 2010, Bangladesh made a high-level political commitment to work with the FATF and the Asia Pacific Group (APG) to address its strategic AML/CFT deficiencies.

The APG is an international organisation, consisting of around 40 members and a number of international and regional observers, including the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB).