DHAKA, Dec 21: Bangladesh’s central bank on Wednesday ordered all banks to report to it transactions of 500,000 takas and above, terming such payments suspicious. The order takes effect on Jan 1, said a statement issued by the Bangladesh Bank (BB).

Representatives of commercial banks, at a meeting with top BB officials on Wednesday, opposed the move and sought a raising of the ceiling to one million takas.

But the central bank remained unmoved, said sources who attended the meeting.

Officials representing commercial banks contended the amount was not very big and even small traders make such transactions regularly.

They also argued that imposing such a restriction would adversely affect bank-client relationship and depositors would lose faith in banks.

According to the new instruction, commercial banks are to submit reports on both withdrawals and deposits in the third week of every month. The information will be preserved in a data bank of the anti-money laundering department of the central bank.

Banks have been asked to submit details of account holders, including name, address, telephone number, tax identification number, etc.

The central bank has also ordered commercial banks to deploy an anti-money laundering official in every branch.