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BIFC disaster

HC reforms BB body today

FE REPORT | Tuesday, 23 February 2021


The High Court (HC) has decided to reform a Bangladesh Bank fact-finding committee to mark the liabilities of BB officials who have been overseeing financial institutions from 2002 to date.
The court will add two competent persons out of the central bank to the panel with five BB high officials in order to increase its credibility.
The names of the duo might be declared today (Tuesday), said barrister Omar Farouq who stood for a party, Tees Mart Inc, on Monday.
Attorney general AM Amin Uddin and barrister Khan Mohammad Shamim Aziz, a counsel for the BB, placed the committee in the HC on Monday.
Following an HC order, the committee was formed on February 15 this year to mark the liabilities of the BB officials who had oversight of the institutions.
It will also see irregularities happened in the Bangladesh Industrial Finance Company Limited (BIFC), a non-bank financial institution.
The panel has been asked to submit a report to the BB governor within three months after taking the charge.
AKM Sajedur Rahman Khan, deputy governor of the central bank, has been made chairman of the committee. Others are BB executive director AKM Fazlur Rahman, general managers Dr Md Kabir Ahammad and Md Nurul Amin, and deputy general manager Md Sorowar Hossain.
After hearing the parties, the HC bench of Justice Muhammad Khurshid Alam Sarkar decided to add two other persons out of the central bank for its credibility.
On December 17 last year, the HC bench in an order said, "For the case in hand, the general managers who were in charge of overseeing the activities of the financial institutions from 2002 to date should be made answerable for the disaster in the financial sector."
The court expected that the governor would look into the matter to dismantle the offenders so no further public money is purloined by crooks in collaboration with unscrupulous BB officials.
Following the observations, the BB formed the committee, said barrister Aziz.
Justice Sarkar made the observation following a company filed an application under section 233 of the Companies Act-1994.
'Tees Mart Inc', a 10-per cent shareholder of the BIFC, petitioned in March last year, seeking HC directives to remove the present board of directors of the BIFC.
Meanwhile, the HC accepted a prayer filed by the court-appointed chairman of the BIFC, seeking directions to appoint a statutory auditor for the company.
He also got the direction that the court-appointed independent members of the BIFC board would not be liable for any past loans/liabilities of the BIFC.

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