Cablegate: Terrorist Finance: Bangladesh Addresses Illegal

VZCZCXYZ0012
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHKA #0381 0660533
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 070533Z MAR 07
FM AMEMBASSY DHAKA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3425
INFO RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC

UNCLAS DHAKA 000381

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

STATE FOR EB/ESC/TFS (KATHERINE LEAHY)
EB/ESC/TFS (LEANNE CANNON)
S/CT (PATTY HILL)
S/CT FINANCE (GALER AND NOVIS)

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EFIN ETTC KTFN PREL PTER LE BG
SUBJECT: TERRORIST FINANCE: BANGLADESH ADDRESSES ILLEGAL
CASH COURIERS ISSUE

REF: STATE 16120

1. (SBU) Econoff delivered points reftel to Mr. Swapan
Bishwas, Deputy General Manager, Anti-money Laundering
Department of the Bangladesh Bank (the country's central
bank). Mr. Biswaw affirmed Bangladesh's commitment to
preventing the illegal movement of currency. He cited the
following as evidence of the government's commitment:

-- Bangladesh has ratified the UN International Convention
for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism.

-- Bangladesh implements FATF Special Recommendation IX
through its foreign currency control regulations.

-- Bangladesh law requires travelers to Bangladesh to declare
currency valued in excess of US $5,000. Undeclared currency
is subject to forfeiture. Travelers departing Bangladesh
must declare currency valued in excess of US $3,000 (if
traveling to a South Asia Association for Regional
Cooperation member country) or US $5,000 (all other
destinations.) Customs and immigration authorities also
monitor currency imports and exports. Recent arrests for
currency smuggling out of Bangladesh were widely reported in
the media.

-- Dealers in foreign currency must be licensed in
Bangladesh. Informal hundi or hawala arrangements are
unlicensed and therefore illegal.

-- Bangladesh has adopted a law against money-laundering.
This law is currently under revision to strengthen its
provisions and establish the legal basis for a formal
financial intelligence unit. Provisions against terrorism
financing will be incorporated into the anti-money laundering
law amendments or into a separate terrorism law.

-- Bangladesh Bank has implemented requirements for cash
transaction reports and suspicious transaction reports. The
central bank has conducted extensive outreach to banks to
build technical capacity for detecting and preventing money
laundering. Bank supervisors review banks' anti-money
laundering compliance programs as part of their core-risk
analysis.

2. (SBU) The U.S. government provides extensive technical
assistance to the government of Bangladesh to improve its
anti-money laundering capabilities. Post's Resident Legal
Advisor works closely with the Bangladesh Bank and officials
from the Law, Home Affairs, and Finance ministries, as well
as police, customs and judicial officials to improve legal
provisions governing anti-money laundering and terrorist
financing, to develop an environment of interagency
cooperation, and to create and train a financial intelligence
unit equipped with the legal and accounting expertise needed
to detect, investigate and prosecute financial crimes.
PASI

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