The Suspicious Transaction Reporting (STR) and Suspicious Activity Reporting (SAR) increased by 43.67 per cent in the fiscal year 2020-2021, said a report of Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU)  on Tuesday.

The BFIU annual report was presented at a view-exchange meeting at the Jahangir Alam Conference Hall, Central Bank Head Office.

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BFIU chief Md. Masud Biswas presided over the function. The meeting was attended by Md. Serajul Islam, Executive Director and Spokesperson of Bangladesh Bank, Iftekhar Mahmud, Programmer of BFIU and Ikramul Hasan, Joint Director.

According to the annual report, there were 30,657 STRs and SARs in the FY 2019-20, and the number increased to 5280 in the FY 2020-21.

According to the BFIU's annual report, most of the money transacted illegally was through banking channels. The amount of money transactions through other means was also immense.

Masud said that STR and SAR increased due to improving the capacity of BFIU and awareness of reporting the organizations.

Increasing the number of STR and SAR does not mean rising corruption or illegal money rather it is happening due to the rising reporting tendency and watch by BFIU.

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He said 26.1 per cent of the suspicious transactions were identified from the reporting of news media, he said.

BFIU chief Masud said, "This year we are going to celebrate the 20th anniversary of BFIU, which is appreciated worldwide for improving technology and money laundering identification systems.”