Relationship dossier
Bangladesh
Philippines
Relationship assessment
Bilateral cooperation on cyber-heist recovery, alongside an unresolved effort to recover stolen funds
Bangladesh toward Philippines
+15Bangladesh pursued the recovery of funds stolen from Bangladesh Bank in 2016 and engaged with Philippine authorities over money laundered through the Philippines. Approximately US$15 million was returned to Bangladesh following cooperation on the recovery effort.
Philippines toward Bangladesh
+15Philippine anti-money-laundering authorities investigated funds from the 2016 Bangladesh Bank cyber heist and helped facilitate the return of approximately US$15 million to Bangladesh.
Overall relationship
+15The relationship includes concrete cooperation through Philippine assistance in tracing and returning part of the funds stolen from Bangladesh Bank. The scale of the heist and the unresolved recovery effort temper that cooperation; broader bilateral arrangements are less clear.
How to read these scores
Scores are rough judgments, not objective measurements or current verification. Directional scores describe government policy and conduct, not public opinion. The overall score is an independent estimate, never an average.
- −100
- Extreme sustained hostility
- −50
- Substantially adversarial
- 0
- Mixed or neutral, supported by knowledge
- +50
- Substantially cooperative
- +100
- Exceptionally close sustained partnership
“Not assessed” means there is no recorded score. Pair existence makes no claim about diplomatic recognition or established relations.
Relationship context
Overview
Bangladesh and the Philippines have maintained bilateral relations and cooperated on recovering money stolen from Bangladesh Bank in the 2016 cyber heist. Philippine anti-money-laundering authorities helped trace and return approximately US$15 million to Bangladesh. The heist and the continuing recovery effort remain a significant bilateral issue; the scope of cooperation beyond this case is less clear.
Areas of tension
- Recovery of the remaining funds stolen from Bangladesh Bank in the 2016 cyber heist
Key developments
Philippine authorities helped facilitate the return to Bangladesh of approximately US$15 million recovered in connection with the Bangladesh Bank cyber heist.
Major uncertainties
- The status and extent of efforts to recover the remaining stolen funds are unclear.
- The scope of bilateral cooperation beyond the cyber-heist recovery is unclear.