Suspend suspicious agents: BB

Bangladesh Bank (BB) has asked 17 banks providing mobile financial services to suspend agents who are suspected of being involved in dubious transactions.

The Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU), the central bank's anti-money laundering wing, gave the order on September 26.

A BB official told The Daily Star yesterday that the central bank on September 14 ordered bKash, Brac Bank's mobile financial service provider, to suspend 2,887 of its agents on finding them engaged in money laundering and suspicious transactions.

The 17 banks, including Dutch-Bangla Bank, United Commercial Bank, Southeast Bank, NCC Bank and Rupali Bank, have been asked to monitor activities of every agent, including the 2,887 who might be their agents too.

The 17 are to inform BB if any agent is found to have breached anti-money laundering rules.

The BB official said many non-resident Bangladeshis opted for illegal channels like “hundi” to send money home because of a lower rate of the US dollar against the taka in legal channels. The latest initiative has been taken with hopes that it would play a positive role in increasing remittance through the banking channel.

In July this year the central bank detected several suspicious transactions on the mobile banking platform, especially at late night, which means remittance is being sent home through hundi, BB said.

One of the reasons for the slump in official remittance figures is the growing tendency among migrant workers to send money through hundi, according to BB.