Financial Crime World

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A.3 Establishment and Nature of BFIU

The Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU) was established as per the provision of section 24 of the Money Laundering Prevention Act (MLPA), 2012.

Background

As mentioned above, for shouldering the responsibilities mentioned in the MLPA, 2002, Bangladesh Bank established Anti-Money Laundering Department (AMLD) in June 2002, and this AMLD was renamed as BFIU in 2012.

Section 24 of the MLPA, 2012

The operational autonomy of BFIU is ensured by section 24 of the MLPA, 2012. It states that:

Authorities and Responsibilities

Section (1)

  • To exercise the powers and responsibilities conferred by this Act, there shall be a central agency called Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit, which shall
    • have a separate seal and letter head pad;
    • have its own office within Bangladesh Bank premises;
    • Bangladesh Bank shall provide necessary office space, manpower, fund, administrative benefits, and other ancillary requirements;
    • There shall be a whole-time Chief Officer of BFIU to be appointed contractually by the Government through a scrutiny committee headed by the Governor, Bangladesh Bank on certain terms and conditions and with status equivalent to that of Deputy Governor of Bangladesh Bank;
    • for all administrative affairs, Chief Officer of BFIU shall take prior approval from Governor, Bangladesh Bank;
    • for formulation and implementation of required policies and guidelines on AML & CFT, Chief Officer shall take prior approval of the Government;
    • on request of Chief Officer of BFIU, Bangladesh Bank may depute required officials/staff, and as per requirement, request the Government for officials/staff on deputation from the Government or law enforcement agencies; and
    • contractual consultant may be appointed in it on Chief Officer’s requirement.

Section (2) & (3)

  • For the purposes of this Act, the Government shall provide necessary resources and facilities to BFIU for effective functioning.
  • The Head Office of BFIU shall be located in Dhaka and shall be headed by a Director General who shall be assisted by Deputy Directors General. BFIU shall have branches at major cities including Chittagong and Sylhet.

A.4 Authorities and Responsibilities of BFIU

BFIU’s authorities and responsibilities are mentioned in the MLPA, 2012, ATA, 2009, and Rules thereunder.

Authorities and Responsibilities of BFIU

Section 23 of the MLPA mentions that authorities and responsibilities of Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit in restraining and preventing the offence of money laundering.

Section (1)

  • For the purposes of this Act, BFIU shall have the following authorities and responsibilities, namely:
    • to analyze or review information related to cash transactions and suspicious transactions received from any reporting organization and information obtained through any other sources and to collect necessary additional information relating thereto for the purpose of analyzing or reviewing from the reporting organizations and maintain data and information on the same and, as the case may be, provide with the said information to investigating agency or the relevant law enforcement agencies for taking necessary actions;
    • notwithstanding anything contained in any other law, obtain necessary information or report from reporting organizations;
    • an order may be issued to any reporting organization to suspend or freeze transactions of any account for maximum of 7 (seven) times by 30 (thirty) days each if there are reasonable grounds to suspect that any money or property has been deposited into the account by committing any offence or money of an account has been obtained from an unlawful activity;