Bangladesh in ‘intensive discussion’ with UK to recover laundered money: BB governor

The government is in intensive discussion with the United Kingdom to recover laundered money by people tied to the regime of ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina, said Bangladesh Bank (BB) Governor Ahsan H Mansur today.

"Our communication with the UK is deep at the technical level. They are also supporting us in the preparation of documents," he said at a media briefing at his office, following his visit to London from June 10 to June 13 as part of the Chief Advisor's delegation.

Mansur said Bangladesh had requested mutual legal assistance from several countries, including the UK. As part of the process, it handed over information about the properties of launderers and looted money.

Based on the information, the foreign authorities take action.

"It (sending requests) is a continuous process. New requests are sent to them," he said, responding to a question about whether the UK would freeze more properties of tycoons connected with the former regime.

Recently, the UK's National Crime Agency (NCA) ordered the freezing of £170 million worth of properties belonging to former land minister Saifuzzaman Chowdhury Javed in the UK. This followed a £90 million asset freeze last month targeting Shayan Rahman and Shariar Rahman of Beximco Group.

"We are also in discussion with other countries," said Mansur, expressing hope that a good amount of the money could be recovered.

International litigation firms are eager to invest between $50 million and $100 million to finance asset recovery.

A litigation funder is a third party that provides financial support to a litigant to cover legal costs associated with a lawsuit, in exchange for a share of the potential financial recovery from the case.

He said Bangladesh would consider forming a fund as part of the initiative, alongside raising money from global litigation firms.

"They (litigation firms) will get 15 percent to 20 percent of the recovered money. But the final amount will be decided based on the amount of recovery."

Mansur, in an earlier interview with the Financial Times, said banks had lost $17 billion to businesspeople close to the regime of Hasina.

He said they would proceed step by step to furnish appropriate information to the court. The settlement of cases out of court is another process. The government has to take the decision on a case-by-case basis, he said.