Foreign Exchange Regulation Act (Amendment) 2015 gets Cabinet clearance

The government has endorsed an amendment to the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, which includes provisions to seek foreign currency information and details of wealth abroad from foreign nationals staying in the country.

“The Cabinet had earlier approved it in principle, a few instructions were given and the draft was amended accordingly and got the final nod,” Cabinet Secretary Musharraf Hossain Bhuiyan said on Monday. 

The original act of 1947 was modified twice, in 1976 and 2003. But the law was unclear about provisions for foreign nationals staying in the country. 

“The amendment clarifies that the law would be applicable to all Bangladeshi citizens and foreign nationals living in the country.”

The secretary, who briefed journalists after the Cabinet meeting presided over by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, said the amendment would enable the government to ask both Bangladeshis and foreign nationals alike to furnish details of their foreign currency holdings, foreign securities, and property abroad.

Bhuiyan added the amendment would also make the work of agents, branch offices or liaison for foreign offices easy. 

Such offices can be opened with only the approval of Board of Investment and would no longer need the Bangladesh Bank’s nod. However, the central bank would have to be notified within a month of the start of operations. 

He added that definitions of some terms had also been updated in the law.