The reconstituted central bank board discussed in detail Wednesday how the cyber heist in its overseas reserves occurred and how such fraud could be prevented.
Officials said the recast Bangladesh Bank board in its maiden meeting asked top management to ensure foolproof IT security system for banking to avert such cybercrime.
The newly appointed Bangladesh Bank Governor, Fazle Kabir, presided over the meeting at the BB headquarters in Dhaka.
He joined the BB as its 11th governor on March 20 last following a top-level shakeup amid a row over the trans-national bank burglary through cyber-channel.
Mr. Kabir, a former finance secretary, got the appointment on March 16 following the resignation of Dr Atiur Rahman on March 15 amid the row over the stealing of $101 million from BB's foreign-exchange reserve account with the US Federal Reserve Bank.
Besides, the government earlier appointed three directors-Dr. Jamaluddin Ahmed FCA, Dr. Rushidan Islam Rahman and Eunusur Rahman, secretary of the Bank and Financial Institutions Division (BFID) of the Ministry of Finance.
The board meeting was informed about the initiatives taken in the meantime by the central bank to recover $81 million of the stolen money from the Philippines, a top central banker told the FE after the meeting.
"We're maintaining close contact with the concerned authorities of the Philippines to recover the stolen funds quickly," he explained.
Two senior officials are now staying in the Philippines to help the Bangladesh ambassador there in recovering the $81 million stolen from its account with the US Fed.
Currently, the BB is maintaining close contact with Bangladesh Ambassador to the Philippines Major-General John Gomes (Retd.) for getting up-to-date information about the money-recovery process opened by the Philippine authorities concerned.
"The central bank is still on the right track for recovering the stolen money," BB director Jamaluddin Ahmed told reporters after the nearly four-hour-long meeting.
Dr. Ahmed also said the BB is taking timely initiatives in this connection.
"We've informed our board about the cyber heist in detail," BB spokesperson Shubhankar Saha told reporters at an official briefing.
He also said the board advised the central bank about taking effective measures to develop IT-security system at a desired level for ensuring its cyber security.
The cyber fraud took place on the night of February 4 through sending a total of 35 transfer orders into the US Federal Reserve Bank in New York where the central bank of Bangladesh maintains a foreign-exchange account.
Nearly $20 million of the $101 million siphoned off was recovered from Sri Lanka. The lion's share of the money landed in the Philippines.
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