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Faith lost in Swiss banking system?

Sunday, 23 June 2024


For some years now, deposits from Bangladesh in the Swiss banking system have made news worldwide. Now, a total reversal is being witnessed as there has been almost wholesale withdrawal from Swiss financial institutions. Experts believe that a change in banking laws in Switzerland has precipitated this avalanche of withdrawal from the legendary banking system that had, for centuries, been extremely tight lipped when it came to any sort of disclosure. Time has changed. The Swiss move towards greater accountability and transparency in the face of mounting international criticism about the nature of its banking operations and multiple breaches of confidentiality have, reportedly, rattled the faith of dubious depositors from Bangladesh, India and, maybe, some other countries.
For decades, economists and media in Bangladesh have been stating that billions of dollars have been siphoned off and parked in offshore accounts. Ever since the Global Financial Integrity (GFI) report revealed the huge illicit financial outflows from Bangladesh between 2009 and 2018, laundered money has been a widely-discussed issue in Bangladesh. Disclosure by Swiss banks tells us that panic withdrawal by Bangladeshi citizens began in 2021 (Swiss Franc 872 million deposits) began diverting the bulk of their deposits elsewhere, and within the span of one-year, total deposits had fallen to Swiss Franc 55 million in 2022 before plunging to a mere 18 million Swiss Franc! Obviously, this trend speaks volumes about what our own secretive billionaires think about international pressure on the Bangladesh and what may happen in the future regarding sanctions on individuals or institutions of Bangladesh origin. That the Swiss authorities would, in all probability, comply with international sanctions is of major concern to unscrupulous Bangladeshi affluent people who have siphoned off billions in foreign exchange and now parked their liquid assets in countries that are least bothered about where the money comes from. Allegations have been levelled against a number of nations where these deposits may have been diverted but it would be premature to name nations without concrete proof. That proof will not be forthcoming from such nations because they do not necessarily adhere to international norms on money laundering.
The big question for policymakers is how long will this plunder be allowed to continue. What is the point of trying to generate more internal revenue if loopholes are allowed to exist in the financial system where billions of public monies can so easily be siphoned off and then easily converted to foreign exchange, either through trade mis-invoicing or conversion into foreign exchange using informal channels (hundi) and parked in foreign accounts? None of this news is important to policymakers, it seems. As long as local media had reported these instances it was of little consequence, but now that Swiss National Bank (SNB) has mentioned it in its annual report, the lid has been blown off and there is no way to ignore the situation anymore. What SNB reported is that deposits from Bangladesh included all types of funds -- personal, bank and other enterprise deposits.
So, what has Bangladesh Bank's financial intelligence unit been doing all this time? Where was national revenue board (NRB) when all this money was being transferred out of the country? And now that the economy is in the red with barely 3 months' import bill covered by the current foreign exchange reserves, what steps will policymakers be taking to rectify past wrongs? These are valid questions. One can only hope that the cancer is treated while there is still time for remedial measures to be effective.