Offshore Banking Act passed by voice vote in Parliament

The Offshore Banking Act 2024 was passed in Parliament on Tuesday as part of a stated objective to enhance the country's reserves of foreign currency and attract foreign investment although it is feared that money laundering from the country will be increased through offshore banking.

Finance Minister Abul Hasan Mahmud Ali placed the bill in the House which was passed by voice vote.

Earlier, while participating in the discussion on the bill, four Jatiya Party MPs including Opposition Chief Whip Mujibul Haque Chunnu, Hafiz Uddin Ahmed, Masud Uddin Chowdhury and Ruhul Amin Hawlader demanded sending the bill to a committee for eliciting public opinions.

But their proposal was rejected by voice vote.

This is the first time the government is writing legislation on offshore banking in the country.

Chunnu said big thieves, big fishes, state leaders, smugglers use offshore banking to make their money legal through banking in island countries like the Bahamas and thus launder the money abroad.

He also said names of some people from Bangladesh who have appeared in the newspaper.

As per the law, non-resident individuals or foreign firms, who will invest here, can open offshore bank accounts.

A licence from Bangladesh Bank is required to do offshore banking. Those who have obtained this license do not need to have a new license.

As per the law, no individual will be allowed to do offshore banking business apart from any scheduled bank working in Bangladesh.

The offshore banking operations can be done with the five currencies –US Dollar, Pound, Euro, Japanese Yen and Chinese Yen.