Banking scams are growing faster than central bank's actions: ICCB

From left, Vincent O'Brien, workshop resource person; Latifur Rahman, ICCB vice president; Digby Bennett, workshop resource person; and Ataur Rahman, ICCB secretary general, attend the inaugural session of an ICC workshop on International Standard Banking Practices 2013 and Uniform Rules for Bank Payment Obligation, at Ruposhi Bangla Hotel in Dhaka yesterday. Photo: ICCB

The recent scams are nothing but straight cheating by some so-called companies in connivance with a group of bank officials and influential group, said Latifur Rahman, vice president of International Chamber of Commerce, Bangladesh (ICCB).
Bangladesh Bank is taking measures to prevent the scams, but the incidents are growing faster than actions, he said.
He spoke at a workshop on New ISBP (International Standard Banking Practices) 2013 and URBPO (Uniform Rules for Bank Payment Obligation), at Ruposhi Bangla Hotel in the capital yesterday.
ICC, the world business organisation headquarters, has been formulating various rules followed worldwide for international trade, he said.
The chamber has revised the ISBP, which has become effective from July 2013 and also formulated the URBPO, Rahman said.
Rahman urged the participants of the workshop to take full advantage of the presentation by experts and get clarified on all issues.
In order to prevent the scam, Bangladesh Bank must be given full autonomy for monitoring the activities of state-owned banks as is done in case of private commercial banks, he said.
There should not be any interference of the banking division of the finance ministry in operating the state-owned banks for the betterment of the banking sector, businesses and economy of the country, he said.
He said companies engaged in international trade are facing growing threat from fraud and forgery, ICCB said in a statement yesterday.
“Besides, the recent scams in some of our state-owned banks have shaken the entire banking sector. Thus, the commercial banks are taking extra precautionary measures in opening of LCs, may be due to which we observe lesser import in the recent past.”
If this trend continues, the much needed development of the country's industrial base will be in jeopardy, he said.
Concerned officials and authorities must have skills on trade finance practices to face these challenges, he said.
ICC Bangladesh often gets information on fraud activities both from local exporters/importers/insti-tutions and also from the counterparties, Rahman said.
“We observe that in most cases remedies/resolutions are difficult while preventive measures are always better and useful.”
Vincent O'Brien and Digby Bennett, who conducted the workshop, and Ataur Rahman, ICCB secretary general, also spoke.
A total of 166 participants from banks, financial institutions and export-oriented industries attended the workshop.
Around 49 participants are expected to attend the workshop on the same topic to be held in Chittagong today, according to the statement.