What limits Bangladesh’s taskforce in retrieving stolen assets
Formed in September last year, the Stolen Asset Recovery Task Force has yet to receive its proposed $20 million budget, preventing it from hiring international firms capable of tracing stolen money across borders
Bangladesh's effort to recover billions in stolen and laundered wealth has been stalled amid multiple challenges.
Funding shortages, bureaucratic delays, and institutional inexperience have left the government's Stolen Asset Recovery Task Force without the tools or authority needed to act effectively, hindering the process of bringing back stolen assets.
'Entirely unfunded'
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Formed in September last year, the Stolen Asset Recovery Task Force has yet to receive its proposed $20 million budget, preventing it from hiring international firms capable of tracing stolen money across borders.
Insiders say the taskforce remains "entirely unfunded," even as individual business groups implicated in financial scandals spend tens of millions on legal defence abroad.
No authority
The task force has no legal authority to sign contracts or execute recovery operations independently.
Efforts to finalise a central Non-Disclosure Agreement with foreign law firms have been stuck for months due to disputes over who can authorise it.
Even the Bangladesh Bank governor, who heads the task force, cannot act without consensus from other agencies.
Inexperience and procedural flaws
The agencies supporting the initiative, primarily the Anti-Corruption Commission and the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit, lack experience in international asset tracing.
Around 70 Mutual Legal Assistance (MLA) requests have been sent to foreign governments, but only two have received responses, with most rejected for being incomplete or poorly drafted.
Decentralised and delayed
As progress stalled, the Bangladesh Bank recently shifted to a decentralised model, asking individual banks to sign their own agreements with foreign legal firms.
However, banks have shown limited interest, as legal and financial risks remain unclear without central coordination.
Costly and complex options
Experts involved in the process say Bangladesh faces a difficult choice between costly private litigation and slow government-to-government cooperation.
Private asset recovery firms demand high fees or a share of recovered funds, while MLA-based cases move through lengthy bureaucratic channels.
Without a dedicated budget or clear authority, officials warn, Bangladesh's pursuit of stolen assets may continue to face paralysis, with billions still beyond reach.
