BFIU Circular Letter No. 01: Instructions to be followed by the schedule banks for preserving secrecy of information

Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit Bangladesh Bank Head Office Dhaka

BFIU Circular Letter No.: 1/2018 Date:

Managing Director / Chief Executive Officer All Scheduled Banks operating in Bangladesh

Dear Sir,

Regarding the issuance of instructions to be followed by banks for preserving the secrecy of information.

In light of the Money Laundering Prevention Act and Rules, information exchanged with the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU) for the prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing is considered confidential. It is legally punishable to violate the secrecy of such information. Under the powers granted in Section 23(1)(g) of the Money Laundering Prevention Act, 2012, and Section 15(1)(g) of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 2009, for the preservation of information secrecy, the following instructions are issued for compliance by all scheduled banks operating in Bangladesh:

a) No information regarding communication between the bank and the BFIU shall be disclosed. In the case of collecting customer account-related information, documents, or additional relevant information/documents as requested by the BFIU through their branches or departments, the reference of the BFIU letter, a copy of the letter (with the letter attached), or email shall not be provided to the branch or department, nor shall the name of the BFIU be mentioned;

b) In the case of BFIU orders regarding account freezing or transaction suspension, the bank may inform the relevant branch by citing the legal provision mentioned in the BFIU letter. However, the reference of the BFIU letter or a copy of the letter shall not be provided to the branch;

c) The Head Office of the bank may issue separate office orders as necessary for the implementation of clauses (a) and (b) above;

d) All letters or responses to communications sent by the BFIU must be sent using the designated secure email system. In this regard, the bank must open the specific secure email system used to send the letter or response from the BFIU and reply using that system. Letters or responses to official emails sent from any official email address of this unit must be sent to the official email address of the relevant officer;

e) If there is no information on the requested matter, no hard copy should be sent; only the designated secure email system or, where applicable, official email should be used to send a scanned copy of the letter. However, if there is information on the requested matter, soft copies (via designated secure email system or official email), hard copies, or both must be sent as per the instructions in the letter or communication sent by the BFIU;

f) In case of technical issues with the designated secure email system or official email, information or documents (hard copies) must be exchanged via letter.

2. You are advised to perform your duties with greater awareness regarding the preservation of information secrecy. These instructions shall come into force immediately.

Yours faithfully,

(Md. Zakir Hossain Chowdhury) General Manager Phone: 9530118

9 Baisakh, 1425 22 April, 2018