Bangladesh is ready to sign an agreement with Switzerland to collect information on funds deposited by Bangladeshis in Swiss banks.
We want to prevent money laundering so we are always ready to sign such an agreement, Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen said on Tuesday.
Recently, Swiss envoy Natalie Chuard in Dhaka suggested that an agreement should be signed between the two countries to exchange information on bank accounts.
But her remarks that the Bangladesh government did not seek information from Switzerland on specific funds deposited by the Bangladeshis in Swiss banks drew criticisms from the government as Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen dismissed her comment as untrue.
Talking to a group of reporters in the foreign ministry, Mr Masud said that confusion might have led the Swiss envoy in Bangladesh to say that.
“Maybe she was not informed properly and there are confusions regarding the meaning of the Swiss authorities in such cases”.
The Swiss government and the Swiss banking authorities are different entities as the latter are independent, he said.
Responding to a question he said that Bangladesh is always eager to maintain warm ties with Switzerland and hoped that Swiss envoy’s remark would not affect the ties.
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