Standard Chartered: Heist of millions won’t create image crisis for Bangladesh

He made the remark at a media interview session recently during his two-day visit to Bangladesh on October 5-6. After he joined with Standard Chartered as a group chief financial officer and group executive director in July 2014, Andy made his first visit to Bangladesh. “Cyber crime is high on agenda for all banks in Bangladesh and most banks are working huge to minimise the cyber risk,” he said. Cyber attack occurred in February that took away $81 million from Bangladesh’s reserve account at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Cyber security is now a global concern. It is not Bangladesh’s problem alone, many developed countries are also falling victim to it, said the official. Appreciating Bangladesh’s measures to resist cyber attack, he said many still think banks will have to adopt measures to protect their business from cyber crime. Andy shared his long-term working experience in telecom sector with the media, saying he was briefly engaged with money transfer system through cellphone that was introduced in Kenya for the first time. He said cellphone-based money transaction has made significant contribution to Kenyan economy. In Bangladesh perspective he said both banking and telecom sectors have realised that world is moving ahead with digitised system. Banks need big branch network to reach retail customers to expand their business, but they have limited branches, particularly more in cities and urban areas, viewed the Standard Chartered official. On the other side mobile operators need banking products to set up network with customers, he said, adding that there is a common interest for both the banks and the mobile phone companies to connect with their customers. The seasoned financial officer suggested that both the sectors should work together in a very symbiotic way. Andy joined Standard Chartered from Vodafone Group in which he spent last 15 years, of which the last nine years as chief financial officer. About Brexit effect on Bangladesh he said the United Kingdom is looking to new trade agreements with the countries around the world. Now the UK decided to focus on import by negotiating with respective countries which will be the opportunity for the exporter countries. Andy expects that Bangladesh will get benefit by having a strong trade relationship with the UK. Fall in foreign exchange rate is likely for a period of time because it is exactly not clear what outcome Brexit will fetch. In response to a question of cost cutting move of some foreign banks, he said Standard Chartered has no plan to cut cost, rather it is expanding its business. The performance of Standard Chartered in Bangladesh is very good as the country is very business-oriented. Sanjeev Agrawal, chief financial officer for Singapore, Asian and South Asia region, also took part in the conversation. He praised the existing investment climate in Bangladesh, saying that foreign investors are highly  interested to invest in this region. According to Sanjeev, investors look for a good business policy, political stability and high returns, all of which exist in Bangladesh. As a result foreign direct investment in Bangladesh is on the rise and he hoped that the investment inflow would continue in future.