\\\'Correspondent banking withdrawal to affect small remitters\\\'

Bangladesh Bank governor Dr Atiur Rahman has expressed concern at the withdrawal of correspondent banking by some banks of developed countries affecting small remitters of developing countries like Bangladesh. He voiced the concern while participating in a discussion on current regulatory issues at the annual general meeting (AGM) of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) in Basel, Switzerland, according a message received in Dhaka. Dr Atiur said the banks in developing countries are being denied of this relationship on the plea of money laundering. The central bank governor argued that such a move is in fact leading to financial exclusion with huge implications for the families of the remitters, and urged the governors of developed countries and international financial institutions like the World Bank to take necessary policy initiatives to ‘de-risk’ these small transactions. “Otherwise, the families of remitters will be badly affected which goes against the spirit of poverty reduction and social development as designed under Sustainable Development Goals (SDG),” he cautioned. Later, Dr Atiur shared his concern with Chairman of BIS Board Noyer and requested him to take the lead in resolving these critical issues. He added that Bangladesh has been working hard to reduce money-laundering risk and has come out of Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list. Noyer appreciated BB governor’s concern and assured him of his leadership role. Dr Atiur informed the governors and BIS officials that BB has already issued guidelines to banks and financial institutions on Liquidity Coverage Ratio (LCR) and Net Stable Funding Ratio (NSFR) in line with Basel III requirements, according to a news agency.