KATHMANDU, Jan 24: The banking transactions without having proper authenticity are on the rise, according to the records of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB).
According to records maintained by the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) of the NRB, it registered a total of 5,935 suspicious banking transactions in the fiscal year 2022/23. This number is more than double compared to the cases recorded in the fiscal year 2021/22 when 2,780 similar transactions were reported. Likewise, there were 1,533 cases reported in 2020/21.
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Suspicious transaction reporting involves detailed information about transactions with necessary evidence to identify individuals, groups and organizations involved in fraud, terrorist financing, money laundering and other crimes.
All banks and financial institutions (BFIs), money-changers and remitters, cooperatives, insurance companies, and securities business persons and designated non-financial businesses and professions such as dealers of precious stones and metals, casinos, independent accountants and legal professionals, notary public, trust and company service providers are required to report any suspicious transaction to the FIU.
Out of the complaints on suspicious transactions received by the FIU last year, 5,187 were reported by the commercial banks. Likewise, development banks forwarded 257 complaints and finance companies forwarded 44 complaints, while microfinance registered 28 complaints and remittance companies registered 146 cases. One was related to cooperatives and 46 were related to the securities companies.
