Following is the full text of Prof Yunus' statement on changes to Grameen Bank ordinance:

This day will go down as a black day in the history of our nation. Our government has obliterated the unique characteristics -- one of which is the bank being owned and run by women -- which made the institution universally lauded and a Nobel Prize winner. Thanks to the amendment, the institution has been rendered into another cookie-cutter public organisation. I cannot bear the sorrow.

What has Grameen Bank done to deserve this treatment?

Eighty lakh underprivileged women became majority owners of the institution through purchase of shares with their own funds. They hold 97 percent ownership of the institution, while the government holds only 3 percent. The bank is run by its own resources like a big cooperative. It does not seek any loans or grants from the government, from abroad or from any other organisation. Then why did the government have to turn this universally revered and emulated institution into any other government organisation?

The government mentions that the issue of appointing of a managing director led to a stalemate. But who created this deadlock? The owners of the bank formed a selection committee with the intention to appoint a managing director as per the laws. Since they proposed my name as the chairman of the committee, with Dr Akbar Ali Khan and Khaled Shams being the other members, the board chairman who happens to be the government representative as well did not accept the proposal as the board's decision. It is a peculiar situation. The law did not empower anybody to “veto” the Grameen Bank board. Out of sheer force the chairman proceeded to veto in three board meetings in a row. And this is being described as the stalemate, and is the reason behind the amendment of the law which practically puts the future of the whole bank in the hands of the chairman.

The government has been repeatedly saying, “We did not occupy Grameen Bank, neither are we going to. Mr Yunus is lying. The ownership structure of Grameen Bank has not been changed. The chairman will form the selection committee in consultation with them.” But when is one consulted and asked to vote? It is when the power lies with the voters. Through amendment of the Grameen Bank Ordinance the voting power of the owners has been wiped off and all that has been left for them is the mere task of giving “consultation”. The selection committee then, comprised of the chairman, will put forward three names to the board. Board will have much reason to think that these candidates will work keeping in mind the preferences of the chairman. They will not work for the best interests of the owners of the bank. Whoever they appoint the situation will not change.

The government is saying that all power will remain with the board, but before knowing anything they have made it very clear that what the board members want will not be allowed to materialise. Why it will not be allowed to happen? It is because the power lies with the government. The government has been saying that the “selection committee” will be formed in one week. But whose decision is this -- the board's or the government's? And Yunus will not be there. Why? Because the government has decided. An international advertisement will be placed seeking applications for the post of managing director. Is this the Board's decision? The salary package of the managing director will have to be attractive or else no managing director of international calibre will apply. But is this the board's decision?

Still the government is insisting that it will not intervene in matters of Grameen Bank. The government has already taken so many decisions; now let's see what more it does next.

By amending the law and playing a decisive role in appointing the chief executive of the institution, the government has, in effect, taken over the responsibility of running the Grameen Bank. No case can be cited, from anywhere in the world, where the authority to appoint the chief executive of an organisation owned by thousands of individuals has been given to the 3 percent shareholder.

After the cabinet decided to amend the ordinance I appealed to the people of the country to talk the government out of proceeding with the plan of action. Many people -- via statements, rallies, human chains, mass media discussions and editorials -- have voiced their displeasure regarding the government decision. Especially, many esteemed female leaders of the country, irrespective of opinion and political affiliation, appealed to the government. I thank them all for standing up for the poor women. My only regret is that the government did not pay any heed to those voices.

With this amendment, the glorious days of Grameen Bank are numbered. From now on, the bank that is owned by poor women will be run, directly and indirectly, by the government. Such steps never benefitted any institution in the world.

I am at a loss of words to describe my grief. Numerous workers of Grameen Bank through their lifelong toil have built the bank into a unique institution over the years. Today, seeing the institution crumble like this, they, too, have no place to hide their sorrow. The poor who bought the bank's share with their cash, learnt to call it “Our Bank”, and took pride in it, but now they will learn that it is still their bank but they no longer hold the power to make any fundamental decision over it. The house is mine, I live in the house, but my voice does not count when it comes to running its day-to-day affairs.

I am an optimist. I do not want to become frustrated. I want to hold onto a flicker of hope. Like I did in the past, I once again call upon the people to find a remedy to the situation. I call upon the youth of the country to relieve the owners of Grameen Bank from this nightmare and pledge to return the control of Grameen Bank to the rightful hands. I want the youth of the families of the poor owners to vow that they will return their mothers' properties to their mothers, so that their bank returns to them with their full control over it. I hope a government will emerge in future, setting its priority to restart the bank's glorious march forward by handing over the power to the poor women who own it, through a national function. It will come as a sigh of relief to everyone that day, and the people the world over who are these poor women's well-wishers will be relieved as well.

On this sorrowful day, I cannot find anything to console my mind other than to hold out for such a happy day in the future.

News: The Daily Star/Bangladesh/24-Aug-12

The board of directors of state-owned Sonali Bank Limited yesterday decided to issue show-cause notices on its 32 officials accused of being involved in the Hallmark loan scam.

A former managing director and two incumbent deputy managing directors of the bank will also have to face the music for their roles in the scam as found by a functional audit report.

Sonali Bank will also inform the finance ministry of the matter, as the board of directors does not have the authority to punish its MD and DMDs but the ministry has.

The decisions came at a board meeting held at the bank's head office in the capital's Motijheel area. Quazi Baharul Islam, chairman of the bank, presided over the meeting.

“The meeting unanimously agreed to show zero tolerance on the scam,” said a board member, adding that the bank would suspend the officials accused if their explanations were not satisfactory.

In June, Sonali Bank appointed Syful Shamsul Alam and Co, a chartered accountant and consultancy firm, to prepare a functional audit report and find out those responsible for the irregularities.

The firm submitted its report and forwarded a copy of the report to the central bank last week.

According to the report, as of May 31 this year, the Ruposhi Bangla Hotel-branch of the bank had disbursed Tk 3,606 crore as loan to Hallmark Group and other entities without maintaining banking rules.

It found various officials of the bank responsible for the scam. It said the top management of the bank had remained “mysteriously silent for a year”, since February 2011, although the signs of irregularities in the branch came to light through various internal inspections.

In May, a central bank investigation also revealed massive irregularities by the bank in sanctioning and disbursing of loans, especially to little-known Hallmark Group and others, and instructed it to take necessary actions.

News: The Daily Star/Bangladesh/24-Aug-12

The country’s inward remittance hit a record $345 million in a single week before the Eid-ul-Fitr, totalling the amount in the first half of August to $747.84 million.

Bangladesh Bank (BB) Executive Director Dasgupta Asim Kumar told daily sun that apart from the formal banking channel, a huge amount also entered the country through informal channel during the period.

"The amount flowed into the country through informal channel could not be determined but we can double the remittance inflow through formal channel by offering improved services to the remitters," the BB official said.

He said every remitter has sent extra penny to near and dear ones on the occasion of the Eid-ul-Fitr.

In July, the country received $1024.69 million as remittance, according to Bangladesh Bank (BB) data.

In the same month of previous FY 2011-12 and FY 2010-11, the country received $1015.58 million and $ 857.31 million respectively in inwards remittance.

The BB record shows that the country has experienced a robust growth in remittance inflows in the entire FY 12, except for the months of September and November 2011.

In November and September, remitters have sent home $908.79 million and $ 855.44 million respectively, which were lower compared to the rest 10 months of the year.

“Remittance inflow in those months was lean for being the immediate next months to two major festivals – Eid-ul-Fitr and Eid-ul-Azha,” a BB official said.

In FY 2011-12, the country received a total of $12843.43 million as remittance.

The country’s remittance earnings reached $11650.31 million in 2010-2011 fiscal, according to BB statistics.

News: Daily Sun/Bangladesh/24-Aug-12

  Bangladesh Bank (BB) has directed all of its branch offices to launch online services for core banking activities such as clearing cheques and re-financing services to banks.

The software has already been introduced by the central bank.

Punitive actions will be taken if any branch could not go online from August 26, BB governor Dr Atiur Rahman told reporters Thursday.

The BB also directed its branch offices to send statements of transactions to the central bank through the software namely 'Automated Banking Application Package'.

An official order, issued Thursday, asked the official in-charge of branch offices to initiate necessary measures to apply the software.

Earlier in Thursday morning, BB governor Dr Atiur Rahman sat in a tele-conference with the branch officials and inquired about their preparations to start applying of the software.

"BB's automation initiative is aimed at helping banks to provide faster and efficient services to clients," Dr Rahman told reporters.

He said the BB is gradually moving to shift the banking services to online from existing manual systems. "I hope, we could introduce completely 'paperless banking'," he said.

The governor said all eight branches of the central bank in Barisal, Khulna, Chittagong, Sylhet, Rajshahi, Bogra, Motijheel and Sadarghat were given directives to abide by the latest order.

News: Daily Sun/Bangladesh/24-Aug-12

  Citi Asia Pacific wins World’s Best Internet Banks award for this year, an annual reward by Global Finance magazine.

The bank hauls a total of 26 awards in the competition under corporate, institutional and consumer banks categories, said a press release.

Citibank, NA has been judged as the “Best Corporate, Institutional Internet Bank in Bangladesh” for the 5th consecutive year.

Citi has won the award on the merit of superior electronic banking solutions, with the highest success rate in increasing usage of its facilities.

The consistent performance indicates Citi’s contribution to the IT sector of Bangladesh, especially in promoting Electronic Fund Transfers.

Rashed Maqsood, Managing Director and Citi Country Officer for Bangladesh said, “Internet banking has transformed the way of most businesses operations”.

“Five consecutive Best Internet Bank awards signifies Citi’s stronghold in this crucial segment and the bank is paving the way for significant developments to serve its customers by

introducing the technology in the Bangladesh market,” he added.

News: Daily Sun/Bangladesh/24-Aug-12