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Govt ignored advice for BCI, NCL takeover
Bangladesh Bank (BB) had advised the Government to take over the management of the two deposit-taking Invest ment companies, now In cri sis, under the Company's Act two years ago. but nothing came out of Its request, a well placed source at the central bank disclosed yesterday
The two companies are the Bangladesh Commerce and Investment Ltd (BCI) whose activities are now completely suspended under orders of BB and the National Credit Limited (NCL) which reportedly hit by a severe liquidity crisis.
The advice of BB for the takeover of the two institutions was based or the central bank's own monitoring exer-cise .which had .revealed "serious anomalies* in the working of both BCI and NCL.
The source declined to speculate on the refusal of the government to act on the central bank's advice, but hinted that It was probably based on political considera-
tions. backed by • section of Influential officials.
In this context, the source confirmed what had been car Iler Indicated by an official of the Ministry of Finance that
sector corporations had deposited part of their funds with BCI. probably also with NCL. 'thus taking enormous risks with public money"
"Some of these deposits may be now almost as good as lost," the source said
The BB sources claimed that central bank lacked the authority to take over the management of a deposit-taking Institution, which could be done by the government only under the Company's Act. However. It had the power to "suspend* the operation of BCI. But It declined to say whether the same move might be made In the case of NCL.
In this context, a BB official confirmed that the central bank had been asking for 'enhanced authority* to enable it to deal with the kind of crisis situation created by the two deposit-taking Institutions. However, modifying the rules of a statutory body like Bangladesh Bank can be a complex exercise, the source added.
Meanwhile, financial circles here yesterday expressed serious doubts about capacity of the central bank to resolve the situation within Its existing rules and. as one expert put It, with its built-in sense of caution.'
"In dealing with the BC1 crisis." said a former banker, "the Bangladesh Bank seems to have reached a dead-end."
Unless BB has completed the audit of the accounts of all the 24 branches of BCI, there will not be a clear picture of the assets and liabilities of the Ill-fated institution as a whole.
"We can be sure that it will be a most depressing picture, without showing the way how depositors who have lost their funds can be compensated." said a source.
The real hope lies with the law-enforcing authorities which have Issued warrants of arrest against directors of the BCI. Much depends on how quickly they can be apprehended. brought to trial and made to pay for their alleged offences. One optimistic forecast is, a major portion of funds they have allegedly grabbed from BCI may still be in their possession, either placed with banks or invested In their other companies. Under court order, they may still be forced to comply with part of their commitments to "thoughtless depositors."