At a time of financial turmoil, banks have hardly any option other than charting a prudent course. But when there are deliberate attempts to undermine banking rules and regulations with the ulterior motive of serving narrow and dishonest purposes, the entire sector has to bear the brunt. Of late one such incident involving a few banks has eroded depositors’ confidence in the banking system. Now the government has to assure time and again that there is nothing to be worried about. Unfortunately for the authorities, the latest Tk 340 billion bank scam could not have come at a worse time. Because the general election is a year away and the last thing one needs is bad publicity at this juncture.
To go by a report in this newspaper published on December 8, the central bank has authorised the disbursement of Tk 40 billion to five Islamic banks to meet their on-going liquidity crisis. Interestingly, they are also owned by the group of companies involved in the alleged financial scam. Indeed, it is apparent that there exists a liquidity crisis in all these banks, and why not? Depositors in these banks will be looking to transfer their money elsewhere and assurances, unfortunately, do not have the same effect as they once did. Ever since the Banking Act was amended a few years ago, which paved the way for several members of the same family to sit on the governing board of financial institutions (like banks),…
