Agrani Bank MD removed
The central bank today removed Agrani Bank Managing Director Syed Abdul Hamid for violating rules in granting loans amounting to Tk 792 crore.
"We received the removal letter from Bangladesh Bank and the order has been implemented from today," Zaid Bakht, chairman of Agrani Bank, told The Daily Star.
The removal came a day after Bangladesh Bank Governor Fazle Kabir signed a proposal to this effect.
As per the decision, Hamid cannot perform any responsibility in any bank for the next two years, sources at the central bank said yesterday.
In February, the central bank served a show-cause notice on Hamid for nine counts of irregularities as per the Banking Companies Act.
READ MORE: Regulator to remove Agrani Bank MD
He replied to the notice but the central bank found the response unsatisfactory.
The move against Hamid comes after the central bank's inspections into Agrani's main branch and the Asadganj and Laldighi East branches in Chittagong.
The BB notice said Hamid approved loans for a few clients by violating the directives of the central bank and the board of directors of Agrani. In 2011, a loan of Tk 120 crore was extended to Tanaka Tradecom International from the bank's main branch.
The loan was approved by Agrani's board with the condition that supplementary collateral must be kept as security with the bank.
Tanaka Tradecom later proposed changes to the condition, which Hamid approved without the consent of the board.
Later in 2015, he rescheduled loans of the company amounting to Tk 10.79 crore -- a decision he was not authorised to make.
In another instance of violation, Hamid rescheduled a Tk 42.38 crore fund for Muhib Steel & Ship Recycling Industries that was already classified as bad loan.
Once again, he went above and beyond his authority to do so and without taking the approval of the board.
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