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BFIU receives 1.41m reports on cash transactions in July

358 suspicious transactions in Sept


FE REPORT | October 21, 2019 00:00:00


The scheduled banks submitted reports on cash transactions of over 1.416 million to Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU) in July, officials said.

Beside, reports on suspicious transaction numbering 358 were submitted to the BFIU in September.

Primarily, the central bank did not find any terror financing or money laundering links to the reports it received. But the reports were being reviewed intensively for any such links, they added.

Banks have to report to the BB if an amount of Tk 1.0 million or above is deposited in or withdrawn from a particular account on a single day.

Section 23(1) (A) of Money Laundering Prevention Act 2012 has empowered BFIU to obtain cash transaction reports (CTRs) from reporting organisations and analyse the same.

The information contained in CTRs is used to analyse STRs and SAR (suspicious activity report), complaints, off-site supervision and for strategic AMT and CFT issues, according to BFIU.

Section 25 (1) (D) of Money Laundering Prevention Act and Section 16 (1) of Anti-Terrorism Act 2009 have obliged reporting organisations to submit suspicious transaction reports (STRs) spontaneously to BFIU.

Banks submitted 14.70 million CTRs in the fiscal year (FY) 2017-18 and non-banking institutions only 2,330, according to the available annual report of BB.

The number of reports on suspicious transactions and activities regarding money laundering and terror financing is rising in the country, a source concerned said.

The BFIU's annual report showed that the total number of STRs and SARs climbed to 3,878 in FY '18 against 2,357 in FY '17.

The intelligence unit does not disclose details about transactions and those behind such dealings.

Of the total reports submitted in FY '18, the numbers of STRs and SARs were 2,069 and 1,809 respectively. The figures were 1,267 and 1,090 respectively in FY '17.

It received the highest number of STRs in August 2017 and most SARs only a month ago in July.

However, the volume of suspicious transactions decreased in the last one year.

It was Tk 9217.50 million in FY '18 against Tk 11637.70 million in the previous FY.

BFIU prioritises STRs, SARs and complaints on the basis of some predefined indicators and then a competent analyst is assigned to review it.

The analyst collects additional information from reporting entities, investigators and law-enforcement agencies, regulatory authorities, foreign FIUs and open-source intelligence, it said.

After analysis, the case is disseminated to the authorities for the next course of action.

BFIU disseminated 677 STRs and SARs to Anti-Corruption Commission, Criminal Investigation Department and the National Board of Revenue, among others, for further measures.

Banks review transactions by customers on a regular basis. They also report to the BFIU after any suspicion transactions are found, a BFIU official said.

BB departments concerned would take action against terror financing as per existing laws, he added.

The country's banking system has an estimated 124 million accounts.

The 2019 Global Financial Integrity report on illicit financial flows to and from developing countries showed that at least US$5.90 billion flew out of Bangladesh in 2015 through misinvoicing in international trade with advanced economies.

Illicit inflows from other countries to Bangladesh stood at US$2.8 billion in 2015, it also revealed.

The 2017 report showed that annual average illicit capital outflow from Bangladesh stood at $7.58 billion during 2005-2014, and the amount was US$9.10 billion in 2014.

"We scrutinize it if an accountholder exceeds his/her transaction ceiling," a BB source said."

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