The central bank of Bangladesh asks the authorised dealers to track export shipments as it smells a rat about trade-based money laundering to the tune of billions of dollars.
Currently, banks are tracking vessels through software especially in case of having cash-incentive facility for shipments.
But banks view that they cannot track all vessels as it involves technical hands and investment. And Bangladesh has a lacking in professional vessel-tracking company.
Many suggest that such a situation could be risky-when suspicions are rife about over-invoicing and over-invoicing.
The Bangladesh Bank, in its directive issued Wednesday, said to ensure safeguards of export transactions, "ADs shall conduct the tracking of shipments in all cases through the tracking system".
The central bank will, however, allow lenders to remit foreign currency for tracking or hiring fleet trackers headquartered in foreign nations.
"The tracking system would help banks to conduct real-time monitoring of the shipping supplies between the country's ports and the nations the items destined for," says an official of the central bank.
"This will subsequently contain trade-based money laundering and stop unscrupulous persons during money flights in the name of exports."
Bangladesh's capital flight usually occurs through export and import trade. Many local exporters also cash in on poor monitoring systems in terms of tracking vessels.
According to the GFI report released in January 2019, the illicit capital outflow went unabated as $5.9 billion was siphoned off from Bangladesh in 2015 and a total of $81.74 billion from 2006 to 2016.
It is estimated that illicit financial outflow or money laundering from Bangladesh was ranging from $2.7 billion to $5.9 billion in 2015 and the amount drained out through over-invoicing in imports and under-invoicing in exports.
jasimharoon@yahoo.com