Farmers Bank MD removed

Bangladesh Bank today removed Farmers Bank Managing Director AKM Shameem as he failed to maintain the rules of the central bank.

A letter was sent to the authorities of Farmers Bank in this regard in the morning, Subhankar Saha, executive director of Bangladesh Bank, told The Daily Star.

According to the letter, the Bangladesh Bank (BB) took the decision as Shameem failed to maintain the central bank rules and manage liquidity of the Farmers Bank, Subhankar said.

The BB, in the letter, mentioned that Shameem cannot be MD of any bank in the next three years, he added.

Farmers Bank recently failed to pay more than Tk 229 crore to Bangladesh Climate Change Trust Fund (BCCTF) on maturity of its fixed-term deposits.

The BCCTF, a government trust formed to tackle risks and adverse effects of climate change under the environment and forest ministry, deposited Tk 508.13 crore with the bank's Gulshan and Motijheel corporate branches in November and December last year under fixed-term deposit schemes.

Five of the deposits amounting to over Tk 229 crore became mature between November 24 and December 7. When the BCCTF contacted Farmers Bank to encash the deposits, the bank made excuses to delay payments.

The BCCTF then contacted the finance ministry and the BB through its parent ministry to help it get the money back.

"The money the BCCTF gets from fixed-term deposits with different banks helps it run its activities. If Farmers Bank does not pay back the BCCTF's deposits, its administrative work will be hampered," reads a letter of the environment and forest ministry, which was sent to the senior secretary of the finance ministry's Financial Institutions Division and the BB governor on December 12.