Recently, the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU) has ordered the suspension of bank accounts held in the names of various individuals and sole proprietorships as part of anti-corruption activities. However, Bangladesh Bank has said that the bank account transactions of any company related to any person have not been suspended except for the bank account operated in the name of the institution owned by a single person.
This information was informed through a circular sent by Bangladesh Bank on Monday (September 9).
According to Section 23 (1) (c) of Prevention of Money Laundering Act-2012 by BFIU, all scheduled banks and financial institutions operating in Bangladesh are instructed to suspend the transactions of accounts operated in the name of certain individuals and sole proprietorships on suspicion of money laundering. But it is observed that the banks and financial institutions have suspended the transactions of the accounts of the companies associated with the individual beyond that directive.
As a result, the day-to-day activities of these organizations are being disrupted. The payment of salaries to the officers and employees of the organization and in many cases the transactions related to import and export are being hindered. Such activities of banks and financial institutions may adversely affect the economy and as a result the officers and employees working in the concerned institutions may suffer, which is not desirable at all.
The central bank’s notification also said that transactions in accounts of companies related to individuals have not been suspended except for accounts maintained in the name of individuals and sole proprietorships through various recent instructions issued by the BFIU.
Earlier on Sunday, Bangladesh Bank Governor Dr. Ahsan H. Mansoor told reporters, “So far we have not seized the account of any organization. Be it S Alam or Salman F Rahman. No organization’s bank account has been seized. All individual accounts whose accounts have been frozen. We don’t want to join any business. We don’t want job loss and production disruption.
