Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)- Bangladesh will have to address five deficiencies in its fight against money-laundering and terror-financing by February next year to averting be black-listed by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), officials said.
It needs to address adequately the issue of criminalizing terror financing and establish and implement adequate procedures to identify and freeze terrors' assets as part of removing the deficiencies in the anti-money laundering (AML) fight and in combating the financing of terrorism (CFT).
The country also needs to ensure a fully-operational and effectively-functioning financial intelligence unit, improve international cooperation and issue guidance to capital market intermediaries to meet the three other AML/CFT deficiencies.
The deadline was set at the FATF meeting held in Paris on October 15-19 on review of the country's latest performance in implementing its commitments, made by the government earlier, in its bid to work with the FATF and the Asia Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG) to address its strategic AML/CFT deficiencies.
The FATF is an inter-governmental body, whose job is to develop and promote policies, both national and international, to combat money-laundering and terror-financing.
A four-member high-powered team, headed by Additional Finance Secretary Amalendu Mukherjee, attended the meeting to inform it about the latest developments on the AML/CFT front, they added.
"We're taking preparations for addressing these deficiencies within the timeframe, set by the FATF," a member of the team said, adding that the FATF encourages Bangladesh to address its remaining deficiencies and continue the process of implementing its action plan.
"The government may consider amending the existing Anti-Terrorism Act in line with the global standard to address adequately criminalising terror financing," another member of the team told BBN in Dhaka.
He also said the government may also issue a statutory regulatory order (SRO) on the basis of the UN (Security Council) Act -1948 to implement adequately the asset-freezing regime for terrorists.
About strengthening of the FIU, the senior government official said the central bank is going to install 'goAML' software to be procured from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) for introducing an online system to collect different information including suspicious transaction reports (STRs) and cash transaction reports (CTRs) from banks.
He also said the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU) of the central bank already signed a deal with the UN body to procure the software.
The goAML is the UNODC's standard software system available for financial intelligence units to check terror financing and money laundering.
In October 2010, Bangladesh made a high-level political commitment to work with the FATF and the APG to address its strategic AML/CFT deficiencies.
The APG is an international organisation consisting of 40 members and a number of international and regional observers, including the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
"Since June 2012, Bangladesh has taken steps towards improving its AML/CFT regime. However, the FATF has determined that certain strategic AML/CFT deficiencies remain," the inter-governmental body said in an announcement.
Bangladesh should continue with implementation of its action plan to address these deficiencies, it added.
BBN/SSR/AD-28Oct12-2:20 pm (BST)
