Private Commercial Banks (PCBs) and Foreign Commercial Banks (FCBs) have so far settled around 70 percent of disputed inland bills purchases (IBPs) through mutual negotiations.

But state-owned commercial banks (SoCBs) are going slow in this regard due to delay in examining relevant documents before payments, a high official of Bangladesh Bank (BB) said Wednesday.

As of August 31’ 2012, the outstanding non-funded IBPs stood at Tk 30 billion, according to Association of Bankers, Bangladesh (ABB) data.

Of the total outstanding amount, the stake of PCBs is over Tk 8 billion while Tk 7 billion is of FCBs. The value of disputed IBPs of SoCBs stands around Tk 15 billion.

Of the amount, Sonali Bank alone owes over Tk 10 billion, as it provided acceptance on fake IBPs of the Hallmark Group that swindled an amount of Tk. 26.67 billion from different banks recently, as per ABB data.

The non-payment against accepted IBPs by different banks has come at the centre-point of discussions after the Hallmark’s loan-scam was discovered and the BB authority took a rigid stance on regulatory actions against responsible persons.

Sonali Bank management is under tremendous pressures from the ABB for making payments against accepted IBPs. But, the bank could not make payments due to fund shortage, sources inside the bank said.

Commenting on this matter, central bank deputy governor SK Sur Chowdhury told daily sun that PCBs and FCBs have cleared about 70 percent of the disputed IBPs by reaching understanding.

“Only 30 percent remains unpaid, which are claimed to be not genuine; and concerned banks are examining these that implies a little delay. But, disputed IBPs will no more remain unsettled at the end of this month,” Chowdhury claimed while talking to daily sun Wednesday.

He said a directive has been issued to Sonali Bank Tuesday asking it to make payments against the genuine IBPs claimed by other banks.

The fact is, there are many fake IBPs and banks, which made final payment seeing the acceptance of the Sonali Bank, are responsible for making the payment without necessary checking of their authenticity, he said. When asked about progress in clearance of IBPs, managing director of Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited (IBBL) Md Abdul Mannan, who is heading an arbitration committee to monitor and negotiate disputed IBPs, said the outstanding IBPs that are pending with Sonali Bank are of many private banks that involves over Tk 10 billion.

“Sonali Bank yet to make payment despite the ABB is pursuing its bank management since last August. Still we are pursuing,” he said.

The central bank had issued a 15-day timeline for banks to make payments against accepted IBPs upon the request of the ABB executive body at a meeting held on September 12.

The BB authority also directed the ABB to initiate arbitration approach in case of non-compliance of any bank to pay for IBPs. The BB-set deadline ended on September 27 without any significant progress in reducing the liabilities against IBPs.

Following the BB directives, a committee has been formed by bank CEOs (Chief Executive Officers) headed by IBBL managing director for arbitration on receiving of any written complaint regarding non-compliance of any bank.

The committee head said the progress in reducing the burden of outstanding IBPs has been narrow due to non-compliance of banks including the state-run Sonali Bank.

News: The Daily Sun/Bangladesh/08-Nov-12