Purpose

Money laundering (ML) has become a global threat in recent years, impacting both developed and poor countries. Developing an efficient anti-money laundering (AML) regime is a difficult and time-consuming process owing to the ever-changing spectrum of methods used, weaknesses in control mechanisms, intricacies of laws and regulations, organizational malfunction and goal displacement. In Bangladesh, surge of illegal money, rising money heists and egregious capital outflows have posed a governance problem. The purpose of this study is to investigate the dimensions of ML and examine the structure and performance of the AML regime.

Design/methodology/approach

This study adopts a qualitative method, based on a thorough review of the conceptual and empirical literature on ML, content analysis of a range of publications, a scan of newspaper articles and digital resources and responses/comments of current and retired government employees in Bangladesh. The evaluation is informed by the recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force and supported by the mutual evaluation reports of the AGroup on Money Laundering.

Findings

Bangladesh, like most of South Asia, is highly vulnerable to ML and is hard-pressed to fully comply with global standards for control. Weak institutions, bureaucratic pathology, lack of transparency and accountability, high levels of corruption, an ambiguous regulatory environment, unregulated financial operations, a disordered banking sector, conflicting interests, criminal exploitation, poor oversight and reporting, flawed risk assessment and weak government performance have affected the performance of the AML system.

Originality/value

This paper looks at the problem of ML from a holistic perspective covering different dimensions such as black money whitening, illegal funds movements, informal money transfer systems, use of offshore refuge for hiding money and so on and the state’s responses to the syndrome. The evaluation will be of particular relevance to policymakers, anti-corruption and law enforcement agencies, the financial intelligence operators and public prosecutors dealing with criminal justice.

中文翻译：

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政策、手段、合规和控制：孟加拉国打击洗钱活动

目的

近年来，洗钱 (ML) 已成为全球性威胁，对发达国家和贫穷国家均产生影响。由于使用的方法范围不断变化、控制机制薄弱、法律法规错综复杂、组织失灵和目标错位，制定有效的反洗钱 (AML) 制度是一个困难且耗时的过程。在孟加拉国，非法资金激增、资金抢劫和严重的资本外流引发了治理问题。本研究的目的是调查 ML 的维度并检查 AML 制度的结构和性能。

设计/方法/途径

本研究采用定性方法，基于对 ML 的概念和实证文献的全面审查、对一系列出版物的内容分析、对报纸文章和数字资源的扫描以及孟加拉国现任和退休政府雇员的回应/评论。该评估以金融行动特别工作组的建议为依据，并得到反洗钱小组相互评估报告的支持。

发现

与南亚大部分地区一样，孟加拉国极易受到 ML 的影响，并且很难完全遵守全球控制标准。机构薄弱、官僚主义、缺乏透明度和问责制、高度腐败、监管环境模糊、金融业务不受监管、银行业无序、利益冲突、犯罪剥削、监督和报告不力、风险评估有缺陷以及政府绩效不佳影响了 AML 系统的性能。

原创性/价值

本文从整体角度审视 ML 问题，涵盖黑钱美白、非法资金流动、非正式汇款系统、利用离岸避难所藏钱等不同维度，以及国家对这一综合症的反应。评估将与政策制定者、反腐败和执法机构、金融情报运营商和处理刑事司法的检察官特别相关。