Bank Asia provided higher studies scholarship to 21 (twenty-one) insolvent meritorious students of Mohadevpur Upazila in Naogaon recently.

A.M. Nurul Islam, Vice Chairman of the Bank handed over the scholarship money to the students at a function held at Mohadevpur Upazila auditorium, said a press release.

Barun Kanti Saha, SEVP, Mozaffor Ahmed, SVP & Head of Bogra Branch, Ekram Hossain, FAVP & Head of Mohadevpur Branch of the bank and Abdus Sattar Nannu, newly elected Upazila Chairman among others were present on the occasion.

News:Daily Sun/22-Mar-2014

NRB Global Bank Limited opened its Patherhat Branch at Patherhat in Chittagong on Thursday.

Nizam Chowdhury, Chairman of the bank inaugurated the branch as chief guest, said a press release.

Md Hanif Chowdhury, Vice Chairman, Md Fazlay Morshed, Morshedul Alam, Md Yousuf, Md Shahjahan Meah, Kamal Pasha, Morshedul Alam, Directors, Md. Abdul Quddus, Managing Director of the bank, branch manager and clients were present.

                                                                                                            News:Daily Sun/22-Mar-2014

Mutual Trust Bank Limited recently signed a Remittance Drawing Arrangement with UAE Exchange Malaysia SDN BHD of Malaysia, at a function at the bank’s corporate head office in Dhaka.

Md. Ahsan-uz Zaman, Additional Managing Director of MTB and Santosh Nair, CEO and Country Head of UAE Exchange Malaysia, signed the agreement on behalf of their respective organizations, said a press release.

Md. Bakhteyer Hossain, Executive Vice President and Head of NRB Division of MTB, Engr. Md. Badlur Rahman Khan, Director of UAE Exchange Malaysia and other senior officials of both the organizations also attended the programme.

News:Daily Sun/22-Mar-2014

Bangladesh Bank has urged the Anti-Corruption Commission to expedite its investigation into the Hall-Mark scam so that Sonali Bank's dispute with other banks over payment of accepted bills can be settled as soon as possible.
Of the Tk 3,547 crore embezzled by the Hall-Mark Group, Tk 1,709 crore was taken out through letters of credit, and after the scam came to light, Sonali decided to stop payment of the bills accepted by other banks lest fraud is involved in them.
This has run Sonali into a cold war with the banks, with one state-owned bank even threatening to file a case.
As a result, the banking sector is going through a lack of mutual trust and disinterest in business, which may negatively impact the entire banking business, the central bank said.
In this backdrop, the BB governor on January 23 sent a letter to the ACC chairman requesting completion of the investigation as soon as possible so that Sonali can clear the payment for the genuine accepted bills. The central bank is yet to hear back from the ACC.
The BB letter said 38 cases have been filed so far for the funded loans (Tk 1,837 crore). But investigation into the alleged irregularities involving the non-funded loans (Tk 1,709 crore) that were taken through LCs has not been completed yet.
The non-funded loans arose when Sonali purchased accepted bills through different branches of 26 banks, the BB said.
Zaid Bakht, a director of Sonali Bank, said the board has decided to not honour accepted bills which are under the ACC probe on charges of fraud.
A central bank high official told The Daily Star that although Sonali is legally bound to pay the dues to other banks, they cannot put pressure on the embattled bank since a large-scale fraud took place in this case. 
If Sonali clears the payment for the accepted bills, their legal position surrounding the Hall-Mark scam might become weak. Meanwhile, a Sonali Bank official said the bank held a meeting with the finance minister and urged that they be not put under pressure to clear the payment for the accepted bills.
An ACC official said investigation is going on into the non-funded loans but no case has been lodged yet.

News:The Daily Star/20-Mar-2014

The committee of BFID would make surprise visits to state-owned banks to check out the actual security condition of the branches

The government has formed a six-member committee to recommend measures within two months to help prevent burglary at the state-owned banks.

The committee of the Banking and Financial Institutions Division (BFID) would make surprise visits to any branch of the eight state-owned banks to see on ground the actual security condition of the branches, said an official yesterday.

He said the committee was formed in the backdrop of burglary in Bogra and Kishoreganj branches of Sonali Bank.

Earlier, Banking Division Secretary Aslam Alam had said they formed a committee, headed by BFID’s additional secretary Amalendu Mukherjee.

Other members of the committee are Bangladesh Bank Executive Director of SM Muniruzzaman and deputy managing directors of Sonali, Janata, Agrani and Rupali banks. It could co-opt any officers and experts, if necessary. 

According to a circular issued yesterday, the committee will give suggestions after receiving related recommendations from state-owned banks. It would regularly evaluate and monitor the security and vault management of the bank branches after the inspection.  

The committee will also look after the insurance policy and rules for vault and security, and seek help from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology to enhance the technical standard of the strong rooms, vaults and other safety aspects.

Meanwhile, Sonali Bank board formed 61 teams to monitoring the security management of every chest branches of the across the country.

News:Dhaka Tribune/19-Mar-2014