TERRORIST FINANCE: FOLLOW-UP ACTION REQUEST ON

UNCLAS DHAKA 001781 SIPDIS SIPDIS EEB FOR JAY JALLORINA, S/CT, AND INL E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: BG EFIN ETTC KCRM PREL PTER KTFN SUBJECT: TERRORIST FINANCE: FOLLOW-UP ACTION REQUEST ON ILLICIT CASH COURIERS FROM BANGLADESH REF: STATE 152088 ¶1. (U) The following is the response to an action request (reftel) for information on cash couriers from Bangladesh: ¶2. (U) Bangladesh has ratified the UN International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism. It also implements FATF Special Recommendation IX through its foreign currency control regulations. The Foreign Exchange Regulations Act of 1947 governs the flow of cash in Bangladesh. ¶3. (U) Bangladesh law requires travelers to Bangladesh to declare currency valued in excess of US $5,000. Undeclared currency is subject to forfeiture. Travelers departing Bangladesh must declare currency valued in excess of US $3,000 (if traveling to a South Asia Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) member country) or US $5,000 (all other destinations). Customs and immigration authorities also monitor currency imports and exports. Some recent arrests for currency smuggling out of Bangladesh were widely reported in the media. ¶4. (U) Dealers in foreign currency must be licensed in Bangladesh. Informal hundi or hawala arrangements for remittances are unlicensed and therefore illegal. While official remittances in Bangladesh have increased due in part to improved mechanisms for legally transferring money, hundi/hawala arrangements remain and are roughly estimated at several billion dollars annually. ¶5. (SBU) The U.S. government provides extensive technical assistance to the Government of Bangladesh to improve its anti-money laundering capabilities. Post's Resident Legal Advisor works closely with the Bangladesh Bank and officials from the Law, Home Affairs, and Finance ministries, as well as police, customs and judicial officials to improve legal provisions governing anti-money laundering and terrorist financing, to develop an environment of interagency cooperation, and to create and train a financial intelligence unit equipped with the legal and accounting expertise needed to detect, investigate and prosecute financial crimes. Pasi