Dealing with cyber hacks on banks ate into profit last year at the SWIFT messaging system, which financial institutions use to move trillions of dollars each day.

Hackers stole $81 million from the Bangladesh central bank in February last year after gaining access to its SWIFT terminal and the emergence of other successful and unsuccessful hacks rocked faith in a system previously seen as totally secure.

Despite this, traffic increased on the network last year, hitting an all time peak in June of over 30 million messages.

SWIFT's 2016 profit before tax and rebates to its owner-customers fell by 31 percent to 47 million euros ($53 million), following additional investments in security, the co-operative said in its annual report published on Friday.

Chairman Yawar Shah said that Belgium-based SWIFT -- the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication -- had linked management goals and incentives to security targets.

SWIFT, which was criticized by some former staff and customers for failing to have spotted weaknesses in its customers' operating practices, has expanded its security teams and developed new tools to help clients monitor transactions and spot anomalies.

Its ability to pre-empt attacks was limited by its customers’ historic failure to share information about hacks, SWIFT said.

SWIFT is operated as a service to all banks, so cash surpluses are usually distributed to customers via rebates and ever-lower prices, rather than via dividends.

Customers received no rebate for 2016. In 2015 the rebate was 33 million euros.

Economic Reporter :
Inflow of remittances has witnessed an upward trend in the recent months as expatriates sent home US$1267.61 million in May, which was $174.97 million up from April and $53.15 million up from the corresponding month in the previous fiscal 2015-16 (FY16), according to Bangladesh Bank (BB) data.
The country received $1092.64 million in April and $1214.46 million in May FY16, the BB statistics show.
"The recent flow of remittance indicates that it is gradually increasing and this trend is likely to continue in the upcoming months," Bangladesh Bank Deputy Governor Abu Hena Mohammad Razee Hassan told.
According to BB, the country received $1009.47 million as remittance in January and $940.75 million in February 2017, but it witnessed a rising trend from March as migrant workers sent home $1077.52 million in March and $1092.64 in April.
Recently, Finance Minister AMA Muhith, in his budget speech, said the government has undertaken various measures to bring back the remittance inflow in positive trend for boosting GDP growth by increasing consumption expenditure.
The initiatives include reducing cost of remittance transfer, improving remittance management efficiency of overseas banking units and exchange houses, strengthening making arrangements between Bangladeshi banks and the local banks of the countries where expatriates are working and motivating the workers to remit through Probashi Kallyan Bank.
The finance minister expressed his firm conviction that "All these initiates together with increasing trend of global growth will have positive impact on our remittance inflows."
Supporting the Finance Minister, BB Deputy Governor Abu Hena Mohammad Razee Hassan also said the central bank is trying to aware the expatriate Bangladeshis to use the formal channel instead of the informal channel for sending remittance.
Earlier, BB chief spokesperson Subhankar Shah said some Non-Residence Bangladeshis (NRBs) are using informal channel, including mobile banking, for sending their money home.
Besides, the falling currency rate against dollar and low oil prices have hit the incomes of the Middle Eastern countries where most of the Bangladeshi migrants work, he added.
Shah said BB has already sent letters to the Bangladesh missions aboard for taking steps to close illegal bKash or Rocket agents to stop sending money home by migrant workers through informal channels.

Md. Abdul Mannan, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Commerce, poses with the participants of 25 days long training programme on International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) was organized by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh (ICAB)

Abdus Samad Labu, Chairman of Al-Arafah Islami Bank Ltd. presiding over its view exchange meeting with the female employees of the bank at its head office in the city on Wednesday. Md Habibur Rahman, Managing Director, Kazi Towhidul Alam, Md Fazlul Karim

AFP, Berlin :
Germany's central bank on Friday raised its growth forecasts through to 2019, on the back of strong private and public consumption.
Gross domestic product is now expected to expand by 1.9 percent this year, up from 1.8 percent previously forecast.
Likewise, growth in 2018 would reach 1.7 percent instead of 1.6 percent, while that of 2019 will hit 1.6 percent rather than 1.5 percent.
"The solid recovery of the German economy continues," said the Bundesbank in its report.
The bank's chief Jens Weidmann underlined the role played by "private consumption, public demand and investments in housing construction". Meanwhile, the Bundesbank also saw consumer prices rising by 1.5 percent in 2017 rather than the earlier forecasted 1.4 percent.
But for the following two years, the central bank lowered its inflation forecasts, expecting it to come in at 1.4 percent in 2018 rather than 1.7 percent, and at 1.8 percent in 2019 instead of 1.9 percent.