Bangladesh Bank orders banks to partner with global firms to recover laundered money

Bangladesh Bank has instructed all scheduled banks to enter agreements with a group of 12 international law and asset recovery firms in a coordinated effort to bring back money illicitly transferred abroad. The directive came from Governor Ahsan H Mansur during a meeting with senior bank executives at the central bank headquarters in Dhaka on Monday. Representatives from at least 30 banks attended. Following the meeting, Islami Bank Bangladesh Managing Director (MD) Omar Faruk Khan said the Criminal Investigation Department had initially identified 11 local business groups allegedly involved in laundering. “Names disclosed [on Monday] include Bashundhara, NASSA and S Alam Group,” he added. “We will begin working with the recovery agencies under non-disclosure agreements,” he added. “The key objective...