Bangladesh and Bhutan signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) Thursday to exchange information relating to money laundering and terrorism financing.
M. Mahfuzur Rahman, Deputy Head, Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU) and Executive Director, the Bangladesh Bank (BB), and Eden Dema, Deputy Governor, the Royal Monetary Authority of Bhutan, signed the MoU on behalf of their respective sides on the sidelines of a meeting in Macau.
Both Mafuzur Rahman and Eden Dema are attending the 17th annual meeting of The Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering in Macau, China, a BB press release said.
Expressing deep satisfaction after signing the agreement, they said the two countries can now take action more actively and effectively against money laundering and terrorist financing in the days ahead.
Dr Aslam Alam, Secretary, the Bank and Financial Institutions Division (BFID) of the Ministry of Finance and Ferdous Khan, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister, were also present at the MoU signing ceremony.
The BB earlier signed such deal with 24 countries, including the United Kingdom, Japan, Sri Lanka, India, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), Malaysia and the Philippines.
Bangladesh, as a member of the Egmont Group, a forum of the Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs) of different countries, is now empowered to exchange information on money laundering and terror financing among its member-countries.
The Group has now 147 members across the world to promote and enhance international cooperation in anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing and to foster implementation of domestic programmes in this field.
A FIU is a central, national agency responsible for receiving (and, as permitted, requesting), analysing and disseminating to the competent authorities disclosures of financial intelligence.
