Bangladesh Financial Intelligent Unit has issued directives to local Cooperative Society to follow the anti-money laundering policy.
It asked the Society to introduce a process to rein in the transaction of money in trading of mass destructive weapons.
BFIU at the Bangladesh Bank issued a circular yesterday asking chairmen of the local Cooperative Society firms to submit report on their anti-money laundering activities.
According to the circular signed by BFIU Director General Deb Prasad Debnath, each of local cooperative society firms will set up a central compliance unit and take initiatives to train their staff on anti-money laundering activities and investigation.
The circular asked the cooperative society firms to take measures to identify the venerable clients, favourable persons, geographical areas and services along with the financial transactions.
Clients should be identified with care and clients with pseudonym should not be given loans, BFIU said.
Cooperative society firms will keep information about the money laundering of certain clients for five years for research and intelligence investigation.
Officials of the Cooperative Society firms will also remain passive for a period of time to catch suspects of money laundering, BFIU said.
According to the Department of Cooperatives, a total of 0.17m primary cooperative societies and 1,300 central cooperatives are now operating across the country, which handle funds worth over Tk5,000 crore.
Meanwhile, a delegation of Asia Pacific Group’s Financial Action Task Force (FATF) on combating money laundering and terrorist financing is now visiting Bangladesh.
The team will evaluate the country’s regulatory and functional capabilities in tackling the recent terrorist threats and poor records in containing unabated money laundering.