April 04, 2016
Bangladesh runs the risk of being reclassified as a country exposed to money laundering and terror financing because of slow implementation of laws on battling illicit flow of funds.
The Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG), the global body that ranks countries, acknowledges that Bangladesh has formulated laws but there are problems with their implementation.
If the country cannot improve its rating in at least two indicators of the Bangkok-based body by July this year, the country will again be branded as a risky nation, said officials at the Bangladesh Bank and the Banking Division.
Around two years ago, Bangladesh was dropped from the APG list of risky countries.
The APG has sent a draft assessment of the country’s efforts against money laundering and terror financing to the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU) under the central bank.
Among the 11 indicators of the APG, Bangladesh was marked substantial in one indicator, moderate in five, and low in the remaining five, according to the draft assessment.
The final decision will come at the annual meeting of the APG in July. But before the meeting, officials of the APG and Bangladesh government will meet next month.