Premier Bank Limited has organised a day-long seminar on “EFTN Operation: Rules and Procedures” at the Premier Bank Training Institute on Sunday.

The Bank organised the seminar for assisting with the department of currency management and payment systems of Bangladesh Bank, said a press release.

Ihsanul Aziz, managing director (CC) of the Premier Bank Limited inaugurated the seminar as chief guest.

Among others, Bangladesh Bank’s resources person deputy directors Khondokar Ali Kamran Al Zahid and Md Akhlasuddin, head of Audit Division of the Premier Bank Shahadat Hossain, principal Premier Bank Training Institute Bishnu Pada Malaker were also present on the occasion.

The Daily Sun/ Bangladesh/ 19th Dec 2011

The central bank has once again urged the commerce and home ministries to take actions against the alleged illegal activities of Destiny-2000, country’s largest Multi-Level Marketing (MLM) company.

Bangladesh Bank in a recent letter sent to the Secretary of Banking and Financial Institutions Division, Finance Ministry, Shafiqur Rahman Patwari requested the two ministries to take measures against the involvement of Destiny with illegal banking and other financial activities.

As Banking Division has received the letter, now it would convey the BB message to the concerned ministries soon, a senior Banking Division official who is involved with the matter, told daily sun.

The official also noted that the finance ministry earlier had also urged the two ministries to take actions against the company but they did not pay hid to the plea.

The letter bearing the signature of BB General Manager KM Abdul Wadud, also reads that in 2005 BB authorities also requested the Commerce and Home ministries to take measures against Destiney -2000 and two other MLM companies -- New way Bangladesh and Global Guardian Network .

Sources in the Ministry of Finance also said the two ministries did not respond to that BB requests.

The Banking Division Secretary told daily sun last week his division had conveyed the BB message to the Commerce Ministry.

He also said that the government high-up may take decision against illegal activities of MLM companies soon.

Commerce ministry is now formulating a law for MLM companies and their operations which have spread throughout the country in recent years, he said.

Earlier, Civil Aviation Minister Faruk Khan on his last working day as Commerce Minister last month has approved a proposal to take legal actions against Destiny -2000. The proposal to take legal action against Destiny was made as per an allegation from a Chittagong resident Khrushid Ahmed Khan.

Allegedly, Destiny is involved with illegal share trading and banking activities though it does not have legal authority to do so.

The Ministry of Commerce also sent letters to the Home Secretary, Banking Division Secretary, Bangladesh Bank Governor, the Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman and Registrar of Joint Stock Companies and Firms to take measures against the MLM company.

As per the allegation of Khrushid Ahmed Khan Destiny illegally sold it shares to earn around Tk 14 billion even if it had not enlisted it with stock market.

In the allegation, he also apprehended that Destiny might shut down its activities in Dhaka and other districts of the country by 2014.

The present amount of capital of Destiny has reached Tk 500 billion and its total number of agents 3.8 million.

Destiny offers an unrealistic four per cent interest every month against any deposit of Tk 100,000 with it by a depositor. At the same time, if any of Destiny agents can convince a client to deposit Tk 1,000 or more, he gets another 25 per cent interest a year. The company has no legal authority to run such financial activities.

Destiny has allegedly been involved with Hundi business through its agents in the USA, Canada, Italy and Middle East countries. Allegedly it has so far transacted Tk 8-10 billion through Hundi.

The MLM company has also involved itself with media. Now it operates a TV channel and a newspaper while launching another newspaper is in the planning stage.

It is also alleged that the company has appointed a former Army high official as one of its top positions as he is believed to have strong links with the government high-ups. The company wants to use the official to convince the government not to take legal action against it, sources said.

Last week, Finance Minister AMA Muhith has also requested the Commerce Ministry to find out ways for recovering the money which multi-level marketing (MLM) company Unipay2u has illegally collected from its clients.

Meanwhile, another MLM company, Revnex, has closed its activities in Dhaka last week as it failed to pay back its clients’ deposited money.

The Ministry of Commerce recently has also asked the Registrar of Joint Stock Companies and Firms to cancel registration of 45 MLM firms, including Destiny-2000 Ltd, for using false addresses.

The Daily Sun/ Bangladesh/ 19th Dec 2011

Banks have sped up efforts to persuade remitters to send money home through the formal channel, with one bank luring customers with efficient, faster services and another offering higher rates.

The result of the growing competition is that the beneficiaries of remitters are getting more money with a lot of care, while the banks' margin from the exchange rate has come down significantly over the past one year.

“We had a margin of Tk 1 per US dollar a couple of years ago, but now it has come down to 15-20 paisa,” said Jahurul Alam, principal officer of Islami Bank Bangladesh Ltd (IBBL), the largest bank in terms of remittance channelling.

IBBL alone remitted 28 percent of the country's total remittances worth $11.65 billion in fiscal 2010-11. The trend also continues this year, said Alam.

“The remittance market has become so competitive that we cannot have a margin of more than 25 paisa. We used to get 50 paisa margin even 6-7 months ago,” said Abu Syed Md Yusuf, assistant vice president and in-charge of offshore banking of Jamuna Bank.

Jamuna Bank, which is a third generation private commercial bank, now deals with only $4 million of remittances on average a month.

Sliding foreign exchange reserve ($9.6 billion) and a rise in imports payments have made remittances costlier. Every bank offers Tk 80 plus for a dollar to be remitted through them. The price exceeded Tk 81 yesterday, according to bankers.

“This is a question of survival. If we don't pay against our letter of credit (LC), we'll lose customers,” said Abdus Sobhan, assistant vice president, international division, of Jamuna Bank.

They were talking to The Daily Star at the NRB (non-resident Bangladeshis) Fair 2011 organised by Probashi Kalyan Bank (Expatriate Welfare Bank) at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre.

Among the sources of foreign currencies, remittance is relatively cheaper money for the banks. The other sources of foreign exchange are the money that comes from inter-bank transactions and exports, but those are costlier than the remittances, the bankers said.

Besides a dramatic improvement in rates and services, the banks are getting tied up with money transfer companies, exchange houses, corresponding banks and non-government organisations to deliver remittances faster to the beneficiaries. Despite having a countrywide presence of branches, state-owned banks are missing the train.

Sonali Bank with nearly 1,200 branches across the country deals with only one-third of remittances than what IBBL does.

“Sonali's average remittance inflow per month stands at around $110 million,” said Rashid Ahmed, a deputy general manager of the Bank.

Three other state banks -- Agrani, Janata and Rupali -- get remittances much less than Sonali, which was by far the leader in this area a few years back.

Private bankers blamed the decline of remittances by state banks on their poor services.

Ahmed, however, denied poor services by his bank and said IBBL is doing well because Middle Eastern people have ownership in the bank.

The Daily Star/ Bangladesh/ 19th Dec 2011

Kazi Fakhrul Islam, managing director of BASIC Bank, places wreaths on behalf of BASIC Bank at National Monument in Savar on the occasion of the Victory Day.

The Daily Sun/ Bangladesh/ 18th Dec 2011

A four-day long regional training workshop titled “Beyond Inflation Target: Policy Options and Instruments for Sustainable Growth and Equitable Development” will begin in Dhaka on 19 December.

AMA Muhith, Finance Minister is expected to inaugurate the workshop at Hotel Sonargaon, said a BB press release.

United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA) and Bangladesh Bank will jointly organise the training workshop.

The Daily Sun/ Bangladesh/ 18th Dec 2011