Most Bangladeshi migrant workers are unaware of the services provided by the Probashi Kallyan Bank due to lack of publicity about its activities. The management of the specialised bank has not taken any initiative to publicise the institution since it was established in 2011 to benefit overseas wage earners, official sources said. The bank is meant to facilitate expatriate Bangladeshis to remit money at low cost or invest in the country, and provide low-interest loans to workers who are aspiring to go abroad or have returned home. A bank official, who asked not to be named, observed that being a government-owned bank, the management could use state-run BTV and Bangladesh Radio to advertise the bank’s facilities. So far, about 2,500 job seekers have borrowed money from the bank to go abroad, while at least 100 returning migrant workers have received loans for rehabilitation. One such returnee, Al-Amin, has been unemployed since returning home from Libya during the 2011 civil war. Al-Amin, from Netrokona, worked as a construction worker in the North African country for nearly two years. He now wants to run a small business at home, but has been unable to do as he has no capital. “I didn’t know that the Probashi Kallyan Bank provides loans at low interest,” he said, while talking to the Dhaka Tribune over phone Friday. “How much money does the bank provide for small enterprises?” Al-Amin enquired, adding that he needed at least Tk200,000 to start a business. Monirul Islam, from Khulna, plans to go abroad to work as an electrician through a private recruiting agency. He said he was afraid as he does not know how will he manage the migration cost. When this correspondent informed him that he could get a soft loan at only 9% interest from the expatriates’ welfare bank, he said he had never heard about it. “It is necessary to publicise the activities of the bank, but bureaucrats manage the bank,” Tasneem Siddiqui, a director of the bank, said over phone Friday. Tasneem, who is also the founding chair of Refugee and Migratory Movements Research Unit, suggested that people trained in banking should manage the bank. News:Dhaka tribune Bangladesh/31-Aug-2013

The Prime Bank board of directors has disapproved the bank management for charging the clients unlawfully and warned of refraining from such wanton actions. The bank also sent a letter to Bangladesh Bank on Sunday, seeking apology for their mistake in deducting money from clients’ accounts as charges of different services, which goes against the law. Recently, the central bank detected that Prime Bank realised Tk250m “illegally” from its account holders in the name of service charges. The bank deducted Tk230 per account – Tk200 as account statement generation fee and Tk30 as VAT – from all types of accounts like savings, current and special notice deposit (SND). It had around 1.2m accounts being maintained in 117 branches and 15 SME branches. Even after having realised the charges, it was not included in the “schedule of charges” published on its website. Meanwhile, the Prime Bank returned Tk260m to its nearly 800,000 clients’ accounts, following which the central bank through a letter issued on July 18 asked the bank to initiate action by August 5 against its officials involved in the illegal activities. In its replay through a letter, Prime Bank said the board reproved the management for such mistake and strongly warned it of not repeating the practice in future. “Chairman informed the meeting that the authorities of the central bank were not happy at the management response, regretting their actions on deduction of various charges from the customer’s account without following due procedures. They also advised taking administrative action against the offenders upon their identification,’’ the letter reads. The bank board expressed resentment and strongly criticised the wanton actions by the management. The board also decided to hear management views on the issue for further decision, according to the letter. On enquiry with the bank’s managing director and the entire senior management, the board deeply regretted the actions and admitted that despite being a collective decision, it was a mistake on their part. The management assured not to repeat such actions which might prove against the interest of general depositors and violation of Bangladesh Bank or the board directives. The board hoped that such strong warning to the management shall deter them from taking any such decision in future, which in any manner proves violation of the directives of the competent authorities or interest of the depositors, according to the letter. News:Dhaka Tribune Bangladesh/2-Sep-2013

The World Bank mission observed that Bangladesh’s state-owned commercial banks may face massive problems in international business due to failure in following global standard. The observation was made in the aide-mémoire of Bangladesh Financial Sector Mission of the global lender during its visit last month. According to the mission, the foreign banks may refuse to open letter of credit (LC) with the Bangladeshi state-run banks because of poor state of operation. However, the banking division secretary saw the mission’s observation nothing new. He said the World Bank usually comes up with such concerns and sets conditions when the country needs fund. “The World Bank mission, as usual, has expressed deep concerns about the performance of the state-owned banks,” said Banking Division Secretary Dr Aslam Alam. He said: “When we need fund, the World Bank presents tough conditions which are usually impossible to implement.” The mission said due to huge capital shortfall the state-owned banks could not maintain Basel II and Basel III requirements. Under the Basel framework, the commercial banks maintain the Liquidity Coverage Ratio (LCR) and Net Stable Funding Ratio (NSFR). In LCR, the commercial banks will maintain high quality liquid assets that can be converted into cash to meet its liquidity needs for 30 calendar days and in NSFR the banks follow a new standard aiming to limit over-reliance on short-term wholesale funding assessment of liquidity risk across all on and off-balance sheet items. The members of mission led by financial sector expert Shamsuddin Ahmed included financial sector experts Niraj Verma, Shah Nur Quayum, Damodaran Krishnamurti and Programme Assistant of World Bank Bridget Rosario. They stayed in Dhaka on 1-8 August. The statistics showed Sonali Bank and Janata Bank had incurred losses of Tk12.8bn and Tk5.4bn respectively in 2012, but Agrani Bank and Rupali Bank made profits of Tk6.8bn and Tk1.3bn respectively in the same year. Banking Division officials said the state-owned commercial banks have been making loss for a long time. According to them, mismanagement was a major reason behind the loss. They said some voluntary works the banks had carried out on behalf of government were are also responsible for the chronic problem. Due to influence of the government high-ups, the state-run banks have to approve large amount of loans to the corrupt businesses who present fake documents. Most of such loans become default, putting the banking sector in trouble. Besides, the loan scams of Hall-Mark and Bismillah Group left a long-time scar on the country’s banking sector. News:Dhaka Tribune Bangladesh/2-Sep-2013

Aminul Islam, President and Managing Director of Bank Asia is seen with the participants of the 29th Foundation Training Programme at the Bank’s Training and Development Center at Karwan Bazar in Dhaka on Tuesday. A 3-week foundation training course was arranged by Bank Asia at the bank’s Training and Development Center at Karwan Bazar in Dhaka on Tuesday. Aminul Islam, President and Managing Director (current charge) of the bank inaugurated the 29th foundation training programme as chief guest, said a press release. Badruddin Ahmed, Training Counselor, Mamun Mahmud, Senior Vice President and Head of Human Resources and Md Azharul Islam, Vice President and Head of Training of the bank were also present on the occasion. News:Daily Sun Bangladesh/4-Sep-2013

Abdul Malek Mollah, Director, Al-Arafah Islami Bank Limited, inaugurates the 106th branch of the bank at Nabin Super Market at Sadar Road at Nabinagar in Brahmanbaria on Tuesday. The 106th branch of Al-Arafah Islami Bank Limited (AAIBL) was inaugurated at Nabin Super Market at Sadar Road at Nabinagar, Brahmanbaria on Tuesday. Alhajj Abdul Malek Mollah, Director of the bank inaugurated the branch as chief guest, said a press release. Md. Habibur Rahman, Managing Director of the bank delivered welcome speech. News:Daily Sun Bangladesh/4-Sep-2013