Bangladesh Investigating Potential Bank Violations of Customs Laws

Bangladesh is investigating whether its commercial banks are breaching customs import regulations, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council said Oct. 30. The probe stemmed from a Bangladesh customs authority allegation that banks are providing letters of credit to importers that “exceed the annual import cap specified in their import registration certificates.” Those practices “cause problems when it comes to releasing imported items” and leads to a “shortfall in terms of due fees and underpaid” value-added taxes, the HKTDC said.