Bangladesh Bank
| Headquarters |
Dhaka , Bangladesh
|
| founding | December 16, 1971 |
| president | Fazle Kabir (from March 18, 2016) |
| country | Bangladesh |
| currency | |
| ISO 4217 | BDT |
| Currency reserves | $ 27.5 billion (12/2015) |
| Website | |
| predecessor |
State Bank of Pakistan |
| List of central banks | |
The Bangladesh Bank ( Bengali বাংলাদেশ ব্যাংক , Bāṃlādeś Byāṃk ) is the central bank of Bangladesh founded on December 16, 1971 . It is subordinate to the government of the country and acts as a classic central bank for the stability of the taka .
The bank is based in the Bangladesh Bank Building , a 115-meter high-rise in the commercial center of Dhaka . As of March 31, 2015, the bank had branches in Motijheel , Sadarghat , Chittagong , Khulna , Bogra, Rajshahi , Sylhet , Barisal , Rangpur and Mymensingh . The bank employed 5807 people, including 3981 bank clerks in the strict sense.
The major rating agencies rated the bank from 2010 to 2016 with Ba3 ( Moody’s ), BB- ( Standard & Poor’s and Fitch ), each with a stable outlook.
List of previous directors ( governors )
Since 1971 the bank has had a total of 11 directors.
| Surname | Term of office |
|---|---|
| Mr. ANM Hamidullah | Jan. 18, 1972 - November 18, 1974 |
| AKN Ahmed | November 19, 1974 - July 13, 1976 |
| M. Nurul Islam | July 13, 1976 - April 12, 1987 |
| Shegufta Bakht Chaudhuri | April 12, 1987 - December 19, 1992 |
| Khorshed Alam | December 20, 1992 - November 21, 1996 |
| Lutfar Rahman Sarkar | November 21, 1996 - November 21, 1998 |
| Mohammed Farashuddin | November 24, 1998 - November 22, 2001 |
| Fakhruddin Ahmed | November 29, 2001 - April 30, 2005 |
| Salehuddin Ahmed | May 1, 2005 - April 30, 2009 |
| Atiur Rahman | May 1, 2009 - March 15, 2016 |
| Fazle Kabir | since March 18, 2016 |
$ 101 million cyber theft on February 4, 2016
On February 4, 2016, the bank was the victim of a large-scale cyber theft. Cyber criminals had carefully spied out and analyzed the internal procedures of the BB and stole credentials from employees. This made it possible for them to initiate money transfers under a given identity. The whole scheme was designed to steal up to $ 1 billion from the BB account at the Federal Reserve Bank in New York City . On February 4, 2015, shortly after midnight, the thieves began transferring money in batches of several million US $ each from the Bangladesh Bank account with the Fed. The recipients were on the one hand various private accounts with the Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC) in the Philippines and on the other hand with the Pan Asia Banking Corporation (PABC) in Sri Lanka . The timing of the cyber attack had been precisely chosen: February 4 and 5, 2016 were bank holidays in Bangladesh, and February 5 and 6, 2018 in the United States, Sri Lanka and the Philippines.
However, the bank was lucky: Due to the number of money transfers to private accounts in a very short time, the responsible departments at the Fed became suspicious and asked the BB about individual payments. The cyber bank robbers also made a serious mistake. The beneficiary in Sri Lanka should be the Shalika Foundation , an alleged non-governmental organization that should help thieves to launder money. However, the thieves mistyped the money transfer and the Foundation became Fandation . Deutsche Bank , which is involved in the organization of the money transfer ( routing ) , then made an official question to the Bangladesh Bank, which went unanswered. As a result, the money transfer to Sri Lanka was not completed and no further money transfers were made to Sri Lanka.
The cyber criminals had manipulated the bank's communication infrastructure in such a way that SWIFT money transfers could no longer be printed out as usual. The executives at the bank initially believed it was a common technical problem. It was not until February 6 that the transactions could be printed again and it became clear in the following days that unauthorized transactions had taken place. A total of US $ 81 million had been transferred to the RCBC in the Philippines and US $ 20 million to the PABC in Sri Lanka. The US $ 20 million in Sri Lanka could be secured and returned to the Fed. The money transferred to the Philippines was transferred to gambling casinos and then disappeared into dark channels. The five primary accounts at the Philippine RCBC, to which the money was initially transferred, had been set up under false identities in May of the previous year.
The bank initially kept the events secret from the public and did not inform the Bangladeshi government either. She tried to secure the US $ 81 million that had disappeared in the Philippines and made an official request for help to the Philippine central bank Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas . On February 14, 2016, a team from the Bangladesh Bank flew to the Philippines. So far, the whereabouts of the amount transferred could not be clarified.
On March 7, 2016, the scandal finally became known to the world. The Bangladeshi government initially accused the Fed in New York of not responding adequately and threatened to take it to the International Court of Justice. The Fed responded in an official statement that there was no evidence of fault on their part and that the transactions were fully authorized and carried out in accordance with the SWIFT protocol.
Four Filipino and two Chinese businessmen who are said to have organized money laundering in the Philippines were named as suspects .
As a result of the scandal, the director, Atiur Rahman, announced his resignation on March 15, 2016. Two deputy directors were fired that same day. Rahman's successor was Fazle Kabir, a tax officer. On March 16, 2016, the government under Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina set up a commission to investigate the incidents.
See also
Web links
- Official website (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c BB gets new governor. (No longer available online.) Dhaka Tribune , archived from the original on March 19, 2016 ; accessed on March 15, 2016 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ International reserve (Monthly). Bangladesh Bank, accessed January 30, 2016 .
- ^ Establishment. Bangladesh Bank, accessed March 8, 2016 .
- ↑ Sovereign ratings of Bangladesh. Bangladesh Bank, accessed March 8, 2016 .
- ↑ a b Rejaul Karim Byron, Md Fazlur Rahman: Hackers bugged Bangladesh Bank system in Jan. Asia News Network / The Daily Star, March 11, 2016 filed by the original on March 12, 2016 ; accessed on May 16, 2020 (English).
- ↑ Spelling mistake prevented hackers taking $ 1bn in bank heist. The Guardian , March 10, 2016, accessed March 15, 2016 .
- ↑ a b Case filed over Bangladesh Bank's $ 101m fund heist. Dhaka Tribune, March 16, 2016, archived from the original on March 19, 2016 ; accessed on March 16, 2016 (English).
- ↑ Asif Showkat Kollol: Bangladesh to sue US Federal Reserve. Dhaka Tribune , March 7, 2016, archived from the original on March 15, 2016 ; accessed on March 16, 2016 (English).
- ^ Statement on Media Reports About Bangladesh. Federal Reserve Bank of New York, March 9, 2016; accessed March 16, 2016 .
- ↑ Trader tagged in $ 81 million BB heist flees Philippines. Dhaka Tribune, March 15, 2016, archived from the original on March 19, 2016 ; accessed on March 7, 2016 (English).
- ↑ Bangladesh bank boss Atiur Rahman quits over $ 100m cyber-fraud. BBC News, March 15, 2016, accessed March 15, 2016 .
- ↑ Asif Showkat Kallol: Committee to analyze why BB authorities hid the cyber-heist. Dhaka Tribune, March 15, 2016, archived from the original on March 18, 2016 ; accessed on March 16, 2016 (English).
