The IFIC bank yesterday approved 15 per cent stock dividend to its shareholders for the year 2013.
The decision was made in the 37th annual general meeting of the bank held at the Bashundhara Convention Centre in Dhaka on Sunday, says a press release. Chairman of the board of directors of the bank Salman F Rahman presided over the meeting. Different business related issues of last year and future work plans were discussed in the meeting. 
Proposals for approving the audited financial statements for the year 2013, offering 1 right share against existing every shares and subordinate bond of Tk 3,000 million were approved in the meeting. 
Among others, chairman of the executive and risk management committee of the bank Mohammad Lutfar Rahman and chairman of audit committee and member of the board of directors Syed Anisul Huq  were also present.

Scheduled banks’ capital decreased by Tk 616.39 crore to Tk 64,574.61 crore in the first quarter of 2014 from that of Tk 65,191 crore as of December 31, 2013 with eight banks including BASIC Bank failing to manage their minimum capital requirement. According to the latest Bangladesh Bank data released on Sunday, eight banks failed to keep minimum required capital in the first quarter of 2014 due to rising defaulted loans at the banks. The eight banks are Sonali Bank,  ,Rupali Bank  Bangladesh Commerce Bank, ICB Islamic Bank, National Bank of Pakistan, BASIC Bank, Bangladesh Krishi Bank and Rajshahi Krishi Unnayan Bank. The banks’ capital shortfall collectively stood at Tk 9,731.69 crore as of March 31, 2014. The BB data showed that the capital shortfall at BASIC Bank stood at Tk 1,036.95 crore as of March 31, 2014 from a shortfall of Tk 647 crore as of December 31, 2013, that of BKB at Tk 5,803.90 crore from a shortfall of Tk 5,764 crore, that of RAKUB at Tk 686.92 crore from a shortfall position of Tk 688 crore, that of BCBL at Tk 58.90 crore from a shortfall of Tk 77 crore, that of ICB Islamic Bank at Tk 1,407.97 crore from a shortfall of Tk 1,385 crore, and that of NPB Tk 180.73 crore from a shortfall of Tk 322 crore. The capital shortfall of state-owned Sonali and Rupali banks stood at Tk 278.43 crore and Tk 277.89 crore respectively as of March 31, 2014 although the two banks were able to maintain their required capital in the last quarter of 2013. As per international standards, every bank has to maintain capital adequacy ratio of 10 per cent. The CAR of the scheduled banks stood at 11.32 per cent at the end of March, which was 11.52 per cent three months ago. CAR is the ratio of a bank’s capital to its risk weighted assets. Due to the capital shortfall at the eight banks, the surplus capital in the banking sector decreased to Tk 2,377.74 crore in the first quarter of 2014 from Tk 3,355 crore as of December 31, 2013. A BB official told New Age on Sunday that the banks’ capital base in the first quarter of this year had declined due to rising defaulted loans. He said that the capital base in the banking sector had strengthened in the last quarter of 2013 as the banks rescheduled huge amount of defaulted loans due to a relaxed policy taken by the BB considering the political unrest in the run up to the January 5 national polls. But, a significant number of the rescheduled loans became defaulted loans again as the banks did not follow proper rules and regulations that put an adverse impact on the banks’ capital position, he said. The BB data showed that defaulted loans in the banking sector increased to Tk 48,172.16 crore as on March 31, 2014 from Tk 40,583.01 crore as on December 31, 2013. The official said, ‘Capital shortfall at BASIC Bank widened at the first quarter as it faced a number of financial scams in the recent years.’ According to central bank statistics, the capital shortfall in the four state-owned banks – Sonali, Janata, Agrani and Rupali – stood at Tk 240.54 crore as of March 31, 2014 against a surplus of Tk 855 crore during October-December last year. Their CAR was 9.77 per cent as of March 31, 2014. The capital shortfall in the four specialised banks – BASIC, BDBL, BKB and RAKUB – stood at Tk 6,762.78 crore in the first quarter of 2014 from a shortfall of Tk 6,382 crore as of December 31, 2013. Their CAR was a negative of 12.38 per cent as of March 31, 2014. The private and foreign commercial banks, however, posted a surplus capital of Tk 5,995.47 crore and Tk 3,385.60 crore respectively in the first quarter of 2014, the BB data showed. The CAR of The PCBs and the FCBs was 12.39 per cent and 22.40 per cent respectively during January-March of 2014. Another BB official said that capital position in the banking sector would worsen further in the second quarter of 2014 if the defaulted loans maintained the upward trend. 

Business leader appreciated Bangladesh Bank for making a foreign exchange reserve of over $20bn

The second term of his appointment in the bank, allegedly involved in credit scams of Tk4,500 crore, is scheduled to expire on September 9 this year .

Basic Bank Chairman Sheikh Abdul Hye Bachchu 

Basic Bank Chairman Sheikh Abdul Hye Bachchu would be removed before his tenure in the wake of huge financial irregularities in the bank.

The second term of his appointment in the bank, allegedly involved in credit scams of Tk4,500 crore, is scheduled to expire on September 9 this year.

“It can be considered as a punishment due to involvement in the credit scam,” Banking Division Secretary Dr Aslam Alam told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday. He would not say the exact date of the announcement, however. 

He said the removal of the chairman is being done at the directive of Finance Minister AMA Muhith.

      Sources in the Bank and Financial Institutions Division said the bank board will be restructured instead of Bangladesh Bank’s recommendation to remove the board of directors.

The move is, however, getting delayed as the finance minister now busy preparing the budget for the next fiscal year scheduled to be placed on June 5, officials said. The announcement may come soon after the budget, said one of them.

The board of director of the bank has recognised the allegation of huge corruption, sources in the finance division said.

 Shubhashish Bose, Shyam Sunder Sikder, Neelufar Ahmed, Quamrun Naher Ahmed, Md. Anwarul Islam and Anis Ahamad are in the bank’s board.

Sheikh Abdul Hye Bachchu had entered into the deep sea fishing business in 2011 when he has been made chairman of Basic Bank and he spent around Tk150 crore on 11 deep-sea fishing trawlers in less than two years.

Bangladesh Bank investigations detected massive financial irregularities involving around Tk4,500 crore of loans in the bank’s three branches between 2009 and 2013.

The Gulshan branch alone lent more than Tk3,111 crore last year against its deposit of Tk695 crore only. 

The loan-deposit ratio reached to whooping 427%, meaning it has lent Tk427 against a deposit of Tk100.

Troubled BASIC Bank has doubled its branches to 68 in the last five years, but 70% of its business activities are controlled by graft-ridden four branches. Of the four branches, loan activities have recently been suspended in three – Dilkusha, Gulshan and Shantinagar – by the central bank on charges of loan frauds. The fourth one is the bank’s main branch.

The bank had only 32 branches in September 2009 when the incumbent board of directors was appointed by the government.      

The central bank last week fired BASIC Bank Managing Director Kazi Faqurul Islam for presiding over a period of serious irregularities at the state-run bank.

MUMBAI: India’s central bank holds its first monetary policy-setting meeting this week amid speculation its hawkish stance could bring it into conflict with the pro-growth policies of the new Prime Minister, Narendra Modi.

Analysts say the central bank’s strong anti-inflation policies may clash with Modi’s aim of reviving an economy which grew by 4.7 percent last year—the lowest level in nearly a decade, and half the rate seen during India’s boom years.

Central bank chief Raghuram Rajan, a former International Monetary Fund chief economist, has hiked interest rates three times since taking over the helm last September.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor’s policies have been widely lauded for helping to reduce the current account deficit - - the widest measure of trade—and restoring the rupee’s stability. But his tight money policy has disappointed business leaders who have called for lower borrowing costs to spur growth—a view analysts say could find sympathy with Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government.

“The RBI and the government may not be on the same page,” said Anjali Verma, an economist at financial services firm PhillipCapital. “But it would be a big risk to remove Rajan, especially after his moves were responsible for bringing back stability” to the currency market, she told AFP.

Economists widely expect the bank to keep its trend-setting repo rate—at which the RBI lends to commercial banks—on hold at eight percent at Tuesday’s policy meeting, but say there is no chance it will lower the rate.