Bangladesh Bank Governor Dr Atiur Rahman receives donation from Association of Bankers Bangladesh for Bannaya Prani Sheba Foundation at a function at Sreemangal, Sylhet on Saturday.

News: The Daily Sun/Bangladesh/21th-Oct-12

Mohammed Gofran has recently been promoted as the additional managing director of Southeast Bank, the Bank said in a statement yesterday.

Prior to the promotion, he was deputy managing director of the Bank.

He started his banking career as a probationary officer in Pubali Bank and joined Southeast as executive vice president in 2003.

An MA in economics from Dhaka University, Gofran also worked with National Bank, EXIM Bank and Jamuna Bank.

News: The Daily Star/Bangladesh/21th-Oct-12

Right at this moment the banking industry of the country is very shaky and upset with the Hall-Mark issue. At the same time, the banking system around the world is facing debt crisis, liquidity crisis, credit crunch etc., the ripple of which is also running through the local banking sector.

The Hall-Mark issue is different from the other crisis that exists in the financial sector today. Hall-Mark is a case of plundering public money through the legal banking channel in connivance with powerful people almost in the same manner that the MLM companies plundered the hard-earned money of unsuspecting clients.

The debt and other crisis which has engulfed the banking sector due to mismanagement, faulty system and improper monitoring may be removed by putting stress on correcting the present banking culture.

The banking profession is still one of the top career jobs and chosen by many brilliant and highly educated persons as a means of livelihood. A good corporate system and culture, attractive salary packages, and other facilities, including a good career progress, are the main attractions of the job. But for the same reasons it is also very competitive to get in and even harder to continue in the profession.

Today's young bankers are the leaders of the next generation of bankers. Just to cope up with the full life-stream of a banker one should chalk out a plan and learn the art of survival techniques from the start.

I am sharing a few tips from my several years of banking experience for the young bankers for a steady and stable career growth.

As the job is not only attractive but also very competitive, it is recognised that the starters are very meritorious and brilliant students but they should not be proud of their knowledge they had earned in their academic life through stereotyped learning. The knowledge acquired on the job is different and more useful. There are many different areas to perform in the banks like customer service, foreign trade, credit, syndication, structural finance, treasury, marketing, brand and communications, research and development, human resources, among others.

All these are separate in terms of operations and procedures but interrelated and not much different from one another. It has other areas to concentrate like regulations and banking laws. It is not that every one should be routed in every section. However specialisation in three or more departments may create confidence and one can run other portfolios if necessary.

In a few cases it may take time to get used to a position but it will never be an impossible task. Whereever one is assigned, the most prudent thing to do is to take the job by heart and wait for a switch to other departments by gaining the confidence of the management. Don't go for bargaining for any particular position. In banking, filing and entry in dispatch register are not a job of an officer. He/she can always ignore these by thinking all these are clerical jobs. A mistake in proper filing or entry in dispatch register may lead to loss of job. So it is recommended that one can maintain filing and register entry for a few days, as these skills may come handy some time. Punctuality, maintaining dress code, art of speaking and good manners are the gateways to acceptability in a corporate environment. Try to catch up with these promptly.

Lifestyle at home or student life will never suit the corporate culture. Personal life and the corporate style are not the same and the sooner you realise it the better. Our overall image is the reflection of the institution we serve. Institutions retain performers and discard non-performers without thinking twice. A banker should not read newspapers, magazines in the office. Paper files, tea cups should not be kept on the desk indecently. Seniors should not be criticised under any circumstances. They are experienced and responsible to make you smarter for the future.

Young bankers often overlook the fact that experienced bankers are instrumental in handling critical banking decisions. Non-performance in a particular area doesn't prove that a banker is obsolete for the banking job. Proper training, motivation, moral support can make them good assets and can be utilised in other areas.

It is not always possible for every one to participate in all important training programmes of the bank, but it should not be a matter of frustration. There are so many outsource institutions from where one can acquire banking knowledge. Some financial newspapers, magazines also publish useful articles on a daily basis, and the Internet can also be a source of knowledge. Read at least six to eight hours weekly. Don't go for memorising the contents rather pick up the concept especially of the analytical articles you will get benefit in the long run.

Good customers are most valuable assets for the bank. Keep constant touch with them. Only a pleasant smile is not enough for retaining clients/customers. Consultations, counsellings and product promotion are also parts of the service. Don't chase clients or customers for achieving your profit target and don't try to retain those giving undue privileges by violating rules and regulations, by non-ethical means or by over-financing. At the end you will lose control over the customers and they will start to dictate you for the sake of their interest. So it is most essential to learn good negotiation skills, for getting long-term benefit through creating a win-win situation for your bank and the customer.

Information technology is becoming the main tool to survive in the industry and it is presumed that the future CEO of banks will be from IT background. So rush to grab IT knowledge. Learn the art of correspondence from the beginning. Correspondence in improper language works as a barrier to good team building.

Switching from one bank to another is required for career development or for other reasons. But one should not move from one bank to another following a peer. Think if you are capable of handling a new management, a new environment or a new task.

Try to obtain professional degrees like banking diploma, CDCS, within five to seven years of your banking career otherwise you will get little chance to concentrate on study due to pressure of your responsibilities.

All these observations will be helpful to you to stay longer in the banking industry. So, young bankers get ready from now on.

The writer is EVP of Bank Asia Ltd. sharifkhan64@gmail.com

News: The Daily Financial Express/Bangladesh/18th-Oct-12

The state-run Sonali Bank Limited (SBL) sought permission from the Bangladesh Bank (BB) Wednesday to settle all its overdue payments to other banks against fake 'inland bills' accepted in recent months.

"There was a verbal prohibition from the BB on accepting or settling payments against any 'inland bills' following the Hall-Mark loan scam that took place at the bank's Ruposhi Bangla branch," a senior official of the Sonali Bank told the FE Wednesday.

So the bank now needs to take permission from the central bank to settle the overdue payments against 'inland bills' to other banks, he said.

The SBL has landed in a difficult situation with the large amount of overdue payments to be made to other banks against the inland bills.

"Now the SBL needs to settle the payments as soon as possible for the sake of good relationships with the other banks concerned, he mentioned.

So SBL Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Pradip Kumar Dutta wrote to the BB seeking necessary directions on settling those pending bills with other banks.

Sonali Bank presently owes about Tk 15 billion to 32 other local and foreign commercial banks as those banks purchased 'inland bills' in the local currency on acceptance of fake bills and papers from traders by the state-run commercial bank.

At least Tk 10 billion, out of the total amount of Tk 15 billion, was funded to the largest money swindler Hall-Mark Group by the other commercial banks against most of the fake bills and papers 'accepted' by the SBL's Ruposhi Bangla branch in the city.

Now those banks are continuously putting pressure on the Sonali Bank to settle the overdue payments with extra charges against a large number of 'inland bills' as their maturity dates have expired.

No bank can withhold the payment against 'inland bills' for an uncertain period as per the rules of UCP (Uniform Customs and Practice for Documentary Credits) -600 as is practiced worldwide.

As per the rule, 'the banks deal with documents and not with goods, services or performance to which the documents may relate.'

As per the UCP-600, the banks are also bound to pay against 'inland bills' to the clients, normally the commercial banks in this case.

"But the BB had imposed an unofficial ban on transactions in inland bills after the Hall-Mark scam exposed by the inspection team of the central bank. Therefore, the bank's overdue payments to the 32 commercial banks now stand at Tk 15 billion," the SBL official said.

So the SBL authority is now seeking the BB permission to settle all of its payments with the other banks for the sake of good business term.

Earlier, it was not required to take a prior approval from the BB to settle such transactions between two banks.

But now the SBL needs fresh directions as well as permission from the central bank to settle the overdue payments against 'inland bills' as the Anti-Corruption Commission has taken a legal move against the Hall-Mark Group and the concerned officials of the bank.

"There is no problem with the funds of the bank. The bank can pay all the overdue amounts to the other banks in a single day. But the problem is with the issue of 'inland bills', when the ACC is moving against it," the SBL official noted.

SBL officials don't know if the BB or the ACC will find further disparity and take action against the concerned officials after payment of the overdue bills.

Some SBL officials are even afraid of getting involved with the procedure of payments against the bills.

"We need directives from the BB as we do not know how to pay the overdue money to other banks against the fake 'inland bills'," the SBL official said.

Therefore, the SBL authority is seeking permission and directives that will pave the way for settling overdue payments. It also wants clear instructions from the BB about how to settle such payments to avert any further action by the ACC on the misappropriation of money on fake documents.

Other commercial banks have also sought clear directives from the BB about dealing with such 'inland bills.'

News: The Daily Financial Express/Bangladesh/18th-Oct-12

The central bank has asked the banks to install fake note detecting machine in all the cattle markets approved by the Dhaka City Corporation (DCC).

This is for the second time that such a move has been taken in addition to deployment of adequate security forces in the cattle markets where sacrificial animals will be sold on the occasion of Eid-ul-Azha. The directive was issued to keep a check on the spread of fake notes as culprits dealing with counterfeit notes become active during the festivals every year.

All the commercial banks in assistance with the law enforcing agencies will render the free service round the clock in the city and also across the country, said a BB order issued on Wednesday.

Some 20 cattle markets would be set up in the DCC area for this Eid. The BB has provided 80 scanning machines to the Dhaka Metropolitan Police for cattle markets under the DCC area, 75 for other areas of the country and 25 for the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB).

Last year, the BB gave 35 machines to police and Rapid Action Battalion (RAB).

Members of the intelligence agencies have already been asked to keep sharp watch on buyers to check payment of fake banknotes after purchasing sacrificial animals.

News: The Daily Independent/Bangladesh/18th-Oct-12