BB Heist: Bangladesh to seek $50m compensation from RCBC

Encouraged by the recovery of a fraction of the $81 million lost in a daring cyber heist earlier this year, a delegation of high-ranking Bangladeshi officials will meet with President Duterte today to press for the return of more missing funds that were laundered in the Philippines. “Definitely, we would seek for RCBC to release some money,” Bangladesh’s ambassador to the Philippines John Gomes said in an interview with the Inquirer. “In the Senate hearing, they had informed [the public] that if RCBC was made liable, they would take it to their board to compensate [Bangladesh] with $50 million. This amount was very clearly mentioned.” Led by the South Asian nation’s minister of law, justice and parliamentary affairs, the officials are also banking on a commitment made by then Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. president and CEO Lorenzo Tan that, if found liable, the bank at the center of the biggest money-laundering scandal to hit the country would voluntarily compensate Bangladesh for its losses.

Source: http://www.thedailystar.net/business/bb-heist-bangladesh-seek-50m-compensation-rcbc-1321609

Banks’ digital risk management ‘quite fragile’: BIBM

IT Risk Management (ITRM) is “quite fragile” in the country’s banks as only 12.0% banks have IT strategy committee, a study shows. A quarter of banks have IT steering committee, 35.0% have IT project steering committee, and 20.0% have Information Security Committee. The study, however, said that banks have started implementing different standards or guidelines gradually. Bangladesh Institute of Bank Management (BIBM) organized the workshop to disseminate the results of research at BIBM. BIBM conducted the research on 25 banks–two state-owned commercial banks, two specialized commercial banks, 18 private commercial banks and three foreign commercial banks.

Source: http://print.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/2016/11/28/157903

Remitters raise use of informal channels

Expatriates have recently increased the use of informal channels, for sending money back home for higher exchange gains, causing a notable fall in official remittance inflow. The government has identified this switch as a key reason for the decline in remittance inflow in recent times. Analysts view that the spread between the formal and informal channels widened recently following high demand for the dollar on “different grounds”. They said the demand for the greenback is surging due to informal trade with a neighboring country and possible rise in capital flight. The Ministry of Finance in its quarterly review states that the remittance inflow dropped by 15.4% to USD 4.3 billion in July-September period. It was USD 5.1 billion during the corresponding period of last fiscal year. It noticed a paradox: overseas employment soared during six months ending June 2016 but remittances stood low.

Source: http://print.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/2016/11/28/157947

Digital payment making strides

Bangladesh has made a significant stride towards a digital economy as around 69.0% of government payments, or about USD 45.0 billion, are now being transacted through digital channels, according to a study by a United Nations organization Better Than Cash Alliances (BTCA). 39.0% of these transactions are for government staff salary payments, showed the report that was launched yesterday at a ceremony at the Prime Minister’s Office. In association with the Access to Information Programme (a2i), a session was organised on ‘Building Digital Bangladesh: The Way Forward for Digitizing Payments’. The study also found that only 2.5%of individual payments and 3% of business transactions are made digitally.

Source:
http://www.thedailystar.net/business/digital-payment-making-strides-1321549
http://print.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/2016/11/28/157941

Insurers demand a few changes in insurance law

Country’s insurance-sector owners Sunday demanded changes in some sections of the Insurance Act and incorporation of some new provisions to give the sector a much-needed shot in the arm. In a written memo the Bangladesh Insurance Association (BIA) president in the meeting said until now some 19 rules and regulations had been framed under the Insurance Act 2010. Some more rules need to be framed alongside making changes to some sections of the Act. He placed an eight-point charter of demands which include amendment to some sections of the act and inclusion of some sections by forming a special committee. Mr Hossain noted that there are some contradictory provisions in the Insurance Act, the Bank Companies Act, and orders of Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission regarding appointment of directors. He demanded resolving the contradictions. He suggested raising the upper limit of the management expenditure of insurance companies, taking into consideration future socioeconomic scenarios.

Source: http://print.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/2016/11/28/157950