BANGLADESH’S central bank said it has reversed its plans to sue the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and the SWIFT money transfer network, and instead intends to seek their help recovering US$81 million stolen by cyber thieves in February.

    “At the moment, we have no plan to go for any legal action against the Fed bank or SWIFT. Rather, we will seek their assistance,” said Subhankar Saha, the spokesman for Bangladesh Bank. He declined to provide reasons for the turnabout.

    A source close to the Asian central bank last month said it was preparing litigation to seek compensation, claiming errors by the New York Fed and SWIFT had made Bangladesh Bank vulnerable. In the February heist, hackers issued false transfer orders on the SWIFT network to move funds out of Bangladesh Bank’s account at the Fed.

    Bangaldesh’s finance minister also said in March he was weighing legal action.

    “We only assessed different options, including the legal [option],” Saha said Tuesday. “We look forward to cooperation both from the Fed and SWIFT.”

    Officials from the Fed and Bangladesh Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith were not available for comment.

    The shift came as meetings were to begin in New York today between officials from Bangladesh Bank, the New York Fed and SWIFT. It also comes after the New York Fed last week published its standard contract with correspondent banks, which spells out that the burden of preventing and reporting breaches lies largely with the correspondent bank, in this case Bangladesh Bank.

    Saha said there was no link between the decision not to pursue a lawsuit and the contract. “We were assessing options, and we prefer cooperation,” he said. (SD-Agencies)