Both sanction and disbursement of fresh loans from three BASIC Bank branches in the capital have been suspended temporally on charges of irregularities and corruption.
The branches are Dilkusha, Shantinagar and Gulshan, the central bank officials said.
The Bangladesh Bank (BB) Monday imposed restrictions on the branches of the state-run specialised bank to protect depositors' interest.
However, loans, sanctioned earlier from this date, can be disbursed by the executive committee of the board with due diligence.
"We've already sent an instruction to the acting managing director (MD) of BASIC Bank for taking necessary actions in this connection," a BB senior official told the FE.
BB also warned the bank that the same restriction may be imposed on its other branches, if irregularities and corruption are found, he also said.
The central bank earlier found different types of irregularities in BASIC Bank in giving loans, which include absence of verification of customer's creditworthiness, absence of implementation of know your customer (KYC) procedures, and extending loans to defaulters.
Majority of the anomalies were detected in the bank's three branches in Dhaka, according to the BB officials.
The amount of classified loan with the three branches accounts for 80 per cent of the bank's total non-performing loan.
The overall default loan of the bank rose to Tk 25.57 billion as on March 31 from Tk 12.82 billion three months back.
On Sunday, BB ordered the removal of Kazi Faqurul Islam from the post of BASIC Bank MD on the charges of negligence in duty and irregularities.
It also barred him from taking employment, directly or indirectly, at any bank or financial institution for a period of two years.
Meanwhile, the board of directors of BASIC Bank has appointed its senior deputy managing director Fazlus Sobhan as MD (current charge), a bank statement said.
