& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

BB to put Premier, Al-Arafa banks under close watch

STAR REPORT
The central bank has decided to put Premier Bank and Al-Arafa Islami Bank under its 'Early Warning system' (EWS) of supervision to deal with some serious management problems including irregular interference of the banks' boards.
Sources at Bangladesh Bank (BB) said Premier Bank has become involved in fraudulent practices under the unusual influence of its board. The recent opening of 17,000 false accounts to manipulate the bank's initial public offering (IPO) is a clear example of the board's interference and malpractices.
"A section of Premier Bank's board members interferes in the bank's everyday affairs. Some high officials help these board members,
but branch managers and other lower level officials have to act as unwilling collaborators," noted a central bank official.
Al-Arafa Bank, on the other hand, has become a victim of a conflict among its board members that has been deranging its management, the BB official said. According to banking sources, in recent times, the intra-board conflict has led to a decline in the bank's performance.
Al-Arafa Bank's deposit grew by 17.85 percent over the year to stand at Tk 994 crore in December 2004. Its credit that year grew by 7.94 percent to Tk 759 crore. The bank at present has a Tk 90 crore classified loan, which is 11 percent of its total outstanding loans.
Premier Bank's deposit last year grew by 79 percent to Tk 1,798 crore
and credit by 85 percent to Tk 1,502 crore. It has only Tk 6.73 crore classified loan, which is only 0.44 percent of its outstanding loans.
"Although both the banks are financially well-off, the unscrupulous practices they are in will soon turn them into problem banks," the BB official pointed out.
To bring them out of the risky paths, the central bank will closely monitor them under its EWS. The BB will sign separate MoUs with them spelling out various targets for them. Besides, a central bank official will be attached to each of the banks.
The BB will send a letter soon to Premier Bank in this regard, simultaneously taking action against it for the IPO scam. Al-Arafa Bank will also be informed of the central bank's decision soon, the sources said.
The BB uses an assessment system called CAMEL rating, in which capital, asset, management, earning and liquidity (CAMEL) are used as the indicators of a bank's performance. A low CAMEL rating means a bank has a problem in the areas of the low-level performance indicators and needs the central bank's intervention.
A bank found to facing difficulty in any areas of operation is brought under the Early Warning category and monitored very closely to help improve its performance and avoid becoming a problem bank.
Presently there are six private banks under the EWS. They are National Bank, IFIC Bank, Shahjalal Bank, Arab Bangladesh Bank, Bangladesh Commerce Bank and Social Investment Bank.
There are five problem banks --Pubali Bank, Oriental Bank, United Commercial Bank, City Bank and First Security Bank. Of them, Pubali Bank is likely to come out of the problem bank status soon on the basis of its performance in 2004.