Bangladesh Bank has directed all scheduled banks to sign agreements with 12 international law and asset recovery firms in a coordinated effort to recover funds illicitly transferred abroad.

The instruction came from Governor Ahsan H Mansur during a meeting with senior executives of 30 banks at the central bank headquarters in Dhaka on Monday. The move marks the first collective initiative by Bangladesh’s banking sector to address the repatriation of laundered money through formal global channels.

Following the meeting, Islami Bank Bangladesh Managing Director Omar Faruk Khan said the Criminal Investigation Department had initially identified 11 local business groups suspected of involvement in money laundering.

“Names disclosed include Bashundhara, NASSA and S Alam Group,” he said, adding that the banks would begin working with the recovery agencies under non-disclosure agreements (NDAs). “The key objective is to repatriate the funds that have left the country.”

He explained that several banks would form consortia to jointly sign contracts with the international firms, which would assist in tracing and recovering the assets.

AB Bank MD Mizanur Rahman described the effort as a “collective banking approach” with no single institution leading the process. Mashrur Arefin, chairman of the Association of Bankers, Bangladesh (ABB) and MD of City Bank, said the foreign partners would provide administrative and legal support once the agreements were finalised.

Pubali Bank MD Mohammad Ali confirmed that the 12 firms were named in the context of ongoing money-laundering probes.

Bangladesh Bank spokesperson Arief Hossain Khan said banks would not be allowed to pay any upfront fees or service charges to these international entities.