Govt devising strategy, roadmap to battle money laundering

The government is preparing a working strategy and a roadmap for risk assessment on legal persons and arrangement as part of the global efforts to prevent money laundering, officials said.
The Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU) is preparing it in line with the recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), a global body working to combat money laundering and financing terrorism.
A legal person refers to registered companies and entities while legal arrangement refers to trusts and waqf, among others.
The financial institutions division (FID) under the ministry of finance recently held a meeting in this regard and discussed that risk assessment of legal persons and arrangement is one of the top recommendations of 11 immediate outcomes of the FATF, said the officials.

Presided over by FID additional secretary A B M Ruhul Azad, the meeting also discussed that the probable means and ways of money laundering by the legal persons and arrangement needed to be identified.
The recommendations have to be made on how appropriate measures can be taken to combat money laundering and terrorists financing.
FID joint secretary Rukhsana Hasin in this case suggested pursuing the methodology that was followed in case of national risk assessment for preventing money laundering and terrorists financing.
A senior finance division official told the FE on Sunday that money laundering and terrorists financing has become a major concern both locally and internationally.
He said millions of dollars are laundered out of the country every year by corrupt individuals and institutions.
At the same time, he added, a large amount of money enters the country through illegal means, some of which are suspected to be used for financing terrorism.
The official said a proper methodology has to be set on how the risk of money laundering by this individuals and institutions can be assessed leading to their prevention.
He said the BFIU of the central bank has been asked to prepare the methodology, working strategy and roadmap, and submit those to the finance division-led inter-ministerial committee by this week.
According to Global Financial Integrity (GFI), Bangladesh lost a total of US$ 61.6 billion between 2005 and 2014.
Majority of the money laundering is taking place through trade misinvoicing. Between 2008 and 2017, on an average, some $7.53 billion were laundered out through trade misinvoicing.
Another FID official said it is assumed that most part of the laundered money went to Switzerland and Malaysia.
Swiss banks hold the laundered and illegally earned money across the world. Many Bangladeshi nationals have also diverted a huge sum of money to Malaysia under the 'second home' programme.
Business circle acknowledged that many people send money to Singapore to buy flats, apartments and set up businesses there.
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