The position taken by the scam-ridden Sonali Bank of late to deal with only 'clean' ones of the pending inland bills purchase (IBP) has given rise to fresh complexities.
The state-owned bank has settled IBPs with minor faults and wants not do so in case of bills with major faults, sources in the know about the developments said.
They said the central bank had issued a deadline on the matter and now the SB has decided to notify with detailed explanations on what ground it has failed to deal with the bills.
The Bangladesh Bank (BB) earlier had instructed the Sonali Bank to settle the pending IBPs with the country's commercial banks by September 2016.
The pending IBPs amounting to Tk 17.6 billion were accepted by Sonali Bank and around 20 commercial banks were paid against the accepted bills.
However, Sonali now wants the formation of BB-sponsored committee to resolve the issue with the representatives from the Anti-corruption Commission and others concerned.
"We've settled many bills with minor faults, but there are many bills which, according to our lawyer panel, are objectionable," said Dr Zaid Bakht, a director of the Sonali Bank, about the change of stance.
"We want central bank-sponsored arbitration as it will resolve many questions related to settlement of the bills," Dr Bakht said.
On the other hand, BB Governor Dr Atiur Rahman said the Sonali Bank must settle the issue with the commercial banks as it had accepted the bills.
Dr. Rahman at a programme last Thursday said the BB would not form any committee on the issue rather it had announced a deadline for settling the bills.
The governor said it would debit the amount from the Sonali Bank account maintained with the BB to pay the commercial banks concerned.
Chairman of the Association of Bankers, Bangladesh (ABB) Ali Reza Iftekhar said the Sonali Bank must settle the matter as it had accepted the bills.
He said the bank cannot say now that those were fakes or not properly checked before acceptance.
"Commercial banks had paid believing the acceptance and it is banking practice," said Mr Reza, also managing director at EBL (Eastern Bank Limited).
The commercial banks had not made any mistake.
Terming it a financial crime, Iftekhar said this should be resolved immediately for the sake of sound banking system.
He said according to international practices, the Sonali Bank should settle the IBPs through the payment of the principal and the interests accrued on it.
The central bank of Bangladesh had issued the deadline in a meeting with the bankers held sometime last July.
Bankers said the BB decision was very much in conformity with the international practices and it should be complied with immediately.
The Sonali Bank, which had accepted the bills earlier, would have to settle those, he said.
The stalemate arose as the beleaguered Hall-Mark Group and some other business entities allegedly swindled minimum Tk 35.47 billion from the Sonali Bank by using the accommodation bills against back-to-back letters of credit (LC) in breach of banking rules and regulations, according to the central bankers.
