Suspicious transaction and activity in Bangladesh fell by 7.86 per cent year-on-year in 2018-19, in a development that may raise questions whether banks and other reporting agencies are monitoring the anomalies properly. The Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU) received 3,573 suspicious transaction reports (STRs) and suspicious activity reports (SARs) from reporting agencies in the 12-month period from banks, non-bank financial institutions, remittance agencies and other resources. Of the total, the number of STRs was 2,084 and SARs 1,489. In 2017-18, the total number of STRs and SARs was 3,078, according to the BFIU’s annual report released on Sunday. The reporting agencies lodged 5,036 suspicious transactions involving Tk 1,021 crore in FY19. The reporting organisations have a legal obligation to submit suspicious transactions reports to the BFIU. The reporting systems have been introduced to protect the reporting organisations from being exploited by the money launderers and terrorist financers, and to ensure the soundness of the national Anti-Money Laundering/Combating the Financing of Terrorism initiative. Apart from the STRs and SARs, the BFIU received 561 requests from the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), police and other government agencies for information exchange in FY2018-19, up from 490 in previous years.
