Bangladeshi expatriates in the United Kingdom are set to face difficulties remitting through formal channels, as the country’s Barclays Bank will close accounts of many exchange houses, including 11 Bangladeshi ones, on September 26.
“Expatriate Bangladeshis may face trouble sending money, which they may send through informal channels, if Barclays Bank closes accounts of 11 Bangladeshi exchange houses on September 26,” Md Nurul Amin, managing director of NCC Bank and chairman of Association of Bankers, Bangladesh, told the Dhaka Tribune over phone Tuesday.
Saying he was busy working on the issue in the UK, Amin said: “We are trying to extend the deadline or make other arrangements.”
Of the 14 Bangladeshi exchange houses in the UK, Barclays did not serve notice to Sonali Bank, Prime Exchange Co and BRAC Sajjan Exchange.
According to Bangladesh Bank, the exchange houses of Bangladesh which will be closed are: EXIM Exchange Company, Standard Exchange Company, Pubali Exchange Co, Premier Exchange Company, Bank Asia Exchange Co, AB Exchange, IFIC Money Transfer, Mercantile Exchange House, MTB Exchange, Southeast Financial Services and NCCB Exchange.
“The expatriates will face problem to send money through legal channel and the profitability of the exchange houses will be stopped,” Deputy Director of Bangladesh Bank’s foreign exchange policy department Md Shafiul Alam told the Dhaka Tribune Tuesday.
Barclays decided to close the accounts of small exchange houses, Alam said, adding the bank did not elaborate the cause behind the decision.
However, an official of the AB Bank, seeking anonymity, said the UK government is discouraging the banks to remit money through exchange houses of foreign countries.
According to the Bangladesh High Commission in the UK, around 500,000 to 600,000 Bangladeshi expatriates are living there.
Talking to the Dhaka Tribune over phone Tuesday, officials at Bangladesh High Commission said the move would create serious problems.
“We are trying to find out ways so that the expatriates can remit through legal channel,” an official said seeking anonymity, as he was not authorized to brief media. The official said British parliament member Rushnara Ali was also trying to solve the problem.
According to Bangladesh Bank, remittance received from UK amounted to a total of $991m in 2012-2013, $987m in 2011-2012 and $889m in 2010-2011.
On a separate earlier incident, the HSBC Bank in the UK served notices to close accounts of 40 embassies and missions including the Bangladesh High Commission in the UK.
“We have closed the accounts with HSBC which is not willing to maintain bank account with us,” Asad Alam Siam, DG (Europe) of the foreign ministry, told the Dhaka Tribune over phone Tuesday.
About the cause, he said HSBC had a problem with one embassy.