DAR ES SALAAM, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- The Bank of Tanzania (BoT) on Thursday announced that it has launched a crackdown on foreign exchange shops in the east African nation's commercial capital Dar es Salaam where it found several illegalities.
A statement released by the central bank said the crackdown began on Wednesday and found most of the shops were running the foreign exchange business by breaching procedures, rules and regulations.
The statement said BoT has started revoking licenses of foreign exchange shops that operated without observing rules and regulations.
"This crackdown is continuous," said the statement, adding that foreign exchange services were available in all banks and banking institutions, including foreign exchange shops owned by the Tanzania Postal Corporation.
In November last year, BoT launched a similar crackdown in the country's northern region of Arusha following suspicions on money laundering and associated illegal transactions.
BoT Governor Florens Luoga said the closure of foreign exchange outlets in Arusha for inspections was part of a countrywide crackdown against masterminds of syndicates behind money laundering and those operating without licences.
