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In Bangladesh, Reforms Have Reduced Illegal Remittances, Says Central Banker
printBangladesh's long fight against an informal remittance channel popularized centuries ago is inching toward a close, according to Atiur Rahman, the governor of the country's central bank. Bangladeshi officials have waged a largely successful campaign against hundi, a system of transferring money outside of formal financial institutions much as is done in hawala, said Rahman. In 2009, the Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering identified the illegal transfers, which once accounted for more than half of the country's remittances, as a "key issue" to resolve. In an interview, Rahman spoke with reporter Kira Zalan about efforts to shift money to formal...
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