Saudi prince asked to confirm Rupali Bank takeover
Monday, 13 August 2007
FE Report
The Privatisation Commission (PC) has asked the representative of Prince Bandar Bin Mohammad Bin Abdulrahman Al-Saud to confirm their commitment for taking over the majority shares of the state-owned Rupali Bank, official source said.
It made the suggestion when Frank Peter, senior adviser to the Saudi prince, met PC chairman Abu Solaiman Chowdhury Saturday last at the latter's office and reiterated their commitment for taking over the management of the bank verbally.
"But this time we have asked the prince's representative to come up with a specific timeframe in writing for taking over the majority share of the bank," said Chowdhury.
Previously, confirmations regarding the purchase were communicated verbally by the Saudi prince's office on a number of occasions and this has created an embarrassing situation for the PC, he said.
Sources said the PC has taken the tough stance to deal with the Saudi prince's office to avert further embarrassment in future.
The Saudi prince's office in the past one year committed verbally on a number of occasions on taking over the bank management after clearing the payment issue.
Besides, Finance and Planning Adviser Mirza Azizul Islam is reviewing the negotiation between the PC and the prince's office with an aim to resolve the issue quickly, sources added.
Due to delay in the handing over process, the Rupali Bank management is facing problem to run the day-to-day affairs. The bank management has already conveyed the message to the Ministry of Finance (MoF) and to the prince's office.
The government engaged the PC to sell 67.5 per cent share of Rupali in 2004 as per deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on bank modernisation reform programme.
The PC has selected the Saudi prince's offer of US $330 million for the shares. Later, the government agreed to sell the remaining 23 per cent share of the bank to the same bidder after the Saudi prince office showed interest to buy those as well.
The Saudi prince offered $128 million for the remaining government shares that pushed up the total offering at $458 million.
The Privatisation Commission (PC) has asked the representative of Prince Bandar Bin Mohammad Bin Abdulrahman Al-Saud to confirm their commitment for taking over the majority shares of the state-owned Rupali Bank, official source said.
It made the suggestion when Frank Peter, senior adviser to the Saudi prince, met PC chairman Abu Solaiman Chowdhury Saturday last at the latter's office and reiterated their commitment for taking over the management of the bank verbally.
"But this time we have asked the prince's representative to come up with a specific timeframe in writing for taking over the majority share of the bank," said Chowdhury.
Previously, confirmations regarding the purchase were communicated verbally by the Saudi prince's office on a number of occasions and this has created an embarrassing situation for the PC, he said.
Sources said the PC has taken the tough stance to deal with the Saudi prince's office to avert further embarrassment in future.
The Saudi prince's office in the past one year committed verbally on a number of occasions on taking over the bank management after clearing the payment issue.
Besides, Finance and Planning Adviser Mirza Azizul Islam is reviewing the negotiation between the PC and the prince's office with an aim to resolve the issue quickly, sources added.
Due to delay in the handing over process, the Rupali Bank management is facing problem to run the day-to-day affairs. The bank management has already conveyed the message to the Ministry of Finance (MoF) and to the prince's office.
The government engaged the PC to sell 67.5 per cent share of Rupali in 2004 as per deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on bank modernisation reform programme.
The PC has selected the Saudi prince's offer of US $330 million for the shares. Later, the government agreed to sell the remaining 23 per cent share of the bank to the same bidder after the Saudi prince office showed interest to buy those as well.
The Saudi prince offered $128 million for the remaining government shares that pushed up the total offering at $458 million.