Bangladesh Bank, New York Fed, SWIFT agree on joint effort to recover stolen funds

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York, global financial messaging system SWIFT and Bangladesh Bank have agreed to jointly probe the cyber heist of the latter’s foreign exchange reserves.

The representatives of the three organisations met in Switzerland on Tuesday, central bank spokesperson Subhankar Saha told a press conference on Wednesday.

Bangladesh Bank Governor Fazle Kabir, New York Fed President William Dudley, and SWIFT representatives joined the discussion.

“Those who took part in the meeting gave details of the steps they have taken and have exchanged information.

“They have agreed to recover the money stolen from the Bangladesh Bank reserves in the New York Fed, bring the culprits to book, and secure the international financial system against such attacks,” Saha said.

Hackers had hived off $101 million from the Bangladesh Bank reserves account with the New York Fed in February, a cyber break-in now being discussed in financial circles worldwide.

They had managed to park $81 million in a few bank accounts in the Philippines by sending fraudulent messages through SWIFT. A large portion of the money had found its way to casinos there, while the rest still remains untraced.

At the same time, another $20 million had been transferred to Sri Lanka, but the transaction failed because of a spelling error made by the hackers.

According a Reuters report, SWIFT has denied charges that Bangladesh Bank’s cyber security had been compromised because of the ‘negligence’ its technicians.

The Brussels-based organisation said in a statement on Monday that it was not its responsibility to ensure cyber security for Bangladesh Bank or any other member.