Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)– The government has formed a four-member commission to review the entire operations of Grameen Bank (GB) and its all associate organisations, officials said on Wednesday.
The Banking and Financial Institution Division under the Ministry of Finance (MoF) has formed the high-powered commission with a 10-point Terms of Reference (ToR), an official notification said.
The commission will scrutinize the legal status, financial transactions and succession rules of GB and its 34 sister organizations.
The commission, headed by former secretary Mamunur Rashid, will recommend to the government on how to bring the GB within the purview of state regulatory agencies, instead of the existing system under which the board of directors of Grameen is empowered to look after all operational matters and policy decisions, according to the ToR.
The commission will identify the institutional strengths and weaknesses of, and constraints to, the operations of GB since its inception till 2010.
The government’s latest move came after a week of the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s two-day visit to Bangladesh when she said the US government would not endorse any action of the Bangladesh government to undermine the achievements of Grameen Bank.
Professor Muhammad Yunus was removed from the post of managing director of the Grameen Bank in March, 2011. The micro-credit pioneer was removed from his position under the Grameen Bank Ordinance, 1983.
Earlier on March 2 last year, the central bank removed Muhammad Yunus from the post of Managing Director (MD) of the GB for his alleged violation of regulation relating to age limit and appointment process.
Under the regulations, the post of MD treated as a contractual official instead of regular one, the BB officials earlier said, adding that the Board has violated the GB ordinance, 1983 through issued the regulations without prior approval of the Bangladesh Bank (BB), the country’s central bank.
BBN/SSR/AD-16May12-2:40 pm (BST)
