Haque Specialized Group's News

A culture of compliance needs to be developed for ensuring good governance in the country's banking sector through strengthening monitoring and supervision, senior bankers and experts have opined. They have also suggested the bankers to establish a strong internal control culture in the banking industry that is a pre-requisite for maintaining a stable financial sector. The observations came during discussion at a review workshop on internal control and compliance of banks, held at Bangladesh Institute of Bank Management (BIBM) in the capital on Thursday with its Director General Dr. Toufic Ahmad Chowdhury in the chair.   According to a study, presented at the workshop, a bank functions better, only if the roles of its board of directors and top management are clearly specified with no interference by the board on the operational issues. The study, conducted by Professor and Director (DSBM) of BIBM Mohiuddin Siddique, has found some evidences of direct involvement of the directors in the business. "Participation of the board members in some regular activities, like - branch visit by the directors during audit, hampers smooth operations and also violates the principles of corporate governance and culture," it noted. Deputy Governor of Bangladesh Bank (BB) Abu Hena Mohd. Razee Hassan advised the bankers to improve their internal control and compliances for ensuring good governance in the country's banking sector. "An independent internal control and compliance department may be considered as the third-eye of the board and regulators," he opined. Dr. Shamsuddin Ahmed, Independent Director and Chairman of Audit Committee of Prime Bank Limited, emphasised independence of internal audit department of banks, and said it will help to ensure good governance in the banking sector. The internal audit department will have to be fully independent, he further said, adding that a culture of compliance is very important for making the banking sector sustainable.    Former Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Agrani Bank Limited Syed Abu Naser Bukhtear Ahmed suggested improving knowledge about ICT (information and communications technology) to build a Digital Bangladesh by 2021. "Each bank should give proper attention to improve ICT knowledge to check cyber fraud and forgery in banking sector." He also said improving ICT will help to ensure accountability and transparency of the banks. Helal Ahmed Chowdhury, Supernumerary Professor of BIBM and Independent Director of Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited, said, "The management, board of directors and audit committee of a bank should be in one boat with mutual tolerance and good intention to help each other as per specification of their assigned responsibilities, so that all stakeholders' targets or goals are achieved." Mr. Chowdhury, also a former MD and CEO of Pubali Bank Limited, said the CEOs get burdened with multifarious jobs of the banks for satisfying all stakeholders. So they have to maintain a command on overall aspects of the banks, complying with the BB's instructions.     Muhammad Yasin Ali, Supernumerary Professor of BIBM, suggested the banks to strengthen internal control and compliance for checking external and internal frauds. Mohd. Humayan Kabir, Executive Director of BB, said the central bank has amended the guidelines on internal control and compliance, considering interest of the banks' depositors and other stakeholders. "It's an ongoing process. The guidelines may be amended further in line with the stakeholders' recommendations," he added. siddique.islam@gmail.com....

Published at: 2017-03-24 00:00:04

Police on Friday cordoned off a house at Shibari in Dakkhin Surma upazila under Sylhet as it is said to be the hideout of militants. Additional deputy commissioner of Sylhet Metropolitan Police Jedan Al Musa said a team of police cordoned off the house around 3 am, reports UNB. Earlier on March 16, four suspected militants, including a female one and a six-year-old boy, were killed during a special raid on a militant hideout at Premtala in Sitakunda upazila of Chittagong.  ....

Published at: 2017-03-24 00:00:04

A biker was killed and eight people were injured when a tree collapsed on them at Panch Jumma Road in Gaibandha sadar upazila on Thursday night. Police said the incident occurred around 11:00pm when a dying tree suddenly collapsed on a motorcycle and a human hauler while passing by the area, leaving biker Khorshed Alam dead on the spot and eight human hauler passengers injured. Three of the injured were taken to Rangpur Medical College Hospital, according to UNB.....

Published at: 2017-03-24 00:00:04

At least 10 people were killed and two others injured when a cement-laden truck plunged into a roadside ditch on Dhaka-Mymensingh highway at Meherabari in Bhaluka upazila early Friday. The identities of the deceased, including women and children, could not be known yet, reports UNB. The accident took place around 4:30am when the truck went down the ditch while heading towards Jamalpur, leaving nine people dead on the spot and three others injured, said Mamunur Rashid, officer-in-charge of Bhaluka Police Station. On information, a firefighting unit rushed in and conducted the rescue operation. The OC said one of the injured died while they were being taken to Bhaluka Health Complex.....

Published at: 2017-03-24 00:00:04

The European Commission (EC) has warned Bangladesh of temporary withdrawal of GSP benefit if it fails to address labour rights issues and comes up with a proper plan of action in this regard within a certain timeframe. The EC issued the warning in a recent letter to Bangladesh embassy in Brussels while the latter on March 10 informed Dhaka about it, officials familiar with the matter said. "Without such progress, our monitoring could eventually lead to the launching of a formal investigation which could result in temporary withdrawal of preferences," said the letter signed by EC directors and managing director Sandra Gallina, Jordi Curell and Lotte Knudsen respectively. In the letter, they mentioned that this would be essential for Bangladesh to remain eligible for the EBA regime and they need to demonstrate to the European Parliament, Council of Ministers and to civil society that Bangladesh is taking concrete and lasting measures to ensure the respect of labour rights. "Warning to Bangladesh to seriously address labour rights, freedom of association issues and to give a convincing road map/plan of action how the issues flagged by ILO will be meaningfully resolved in the wake of the next follow-up meeting of Sustainability Compact in May in Dhaka and ILO conference in June in Geneva. Or risk to losing EBA, withdrawal of GSP facilities offered to Bangladesh," the message sent by Bangladesh embassy reads. Under the GSP regulation, beneficiaries are required to respect core international principles of human rights and labour rights in order to continue to benefit from this preferential trade regime with the EU, the EC letter said, adding that the GSP regulation specifically provides for the possibility of 'temporary withdrawal' in respect of all or certain products in case of 'serious and systematic violations of core human rights and labour rights'. The EU has already expressed its concern regarding the respect of the principle of freedom of association in Bangladesh, in particular in light of the 'special paragraph' given to Bangladesh in the International Labour Conference in June 2016, it added. "This is a very serious indication of the deterioration of the situation which we do not consider lightly," the letter said. It also mentioned that the EU continues to regularly receive reports of harassment, intimidation and repression of trade unions and workers wishing to unionise, as well as restrictions on trade union activities and even arrests for activities such as holding training seminars or strikes. These reports seem to indicate a further decline in the respect of fundamental labour rights of workers, it said suggesting that it is of the utmost importance that Bangladesh addresses this situation with concrete and time-bound actions, in particular by implementing the recommendations of the ILO Committee on the Application of Standards (CAS) as matter of urgency. The recommendations included further amendments to the 2013 Labour Act to address the issues relating to freedom of association and collective bargaining, ensuring the law governing the EPZs allows for full freedom of association, including the ability to form employers' and workers' organizations of their own choosing and to allow workers' organizations to associate with workers' organizations outside of the EPZs, investigate all acts of anti-union discriminations with urgency and ease the trade union registration process. Earlier on January 18 last, four global rights groups in a joint letter called on the European Parliament (EP) to review eligibility of Bangladesh's trade preferences under the EU GSP scheme, saying the country is in breach of labour conditionality under the scheme. International Trade Union Confederation, European Trade Union Confederation, Industrial Global Union and UNI Global Union, in a joint letter on January 18 last to the President of EP, made the call following recent workers' agitation demanding wage hike in Ashulia garment industrial belt. When asked, Mahmud Hasan Khan, vice president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) said, "We are very concerned and working on it." Bangladesh-made products including apparel enjoy duty-free facility under the EU GSP. More than 60 per cent of the country's total exports are destined to markets of the member-states of the EU. According to the EC letter, in 2015, Bangladesh was by far the largest EBA (everything but arms) exporter to the EU, accounting for 65.7 per cent of EBA exports with a value of over 14.6 billion euro. However, experts see the EC's such warning as a matter of concern for Bangladesh's overseas trade. Talking to the FE, Mustafizur Rahman, distinguished fellow of private think tank CPD said, "Any such warning is dangerous. If the EU really withdraws the GSP benefit for Bangladesh, it will create an adverse impact on total exports." He, however, suggested that Bangladesh authorities should take immediate steps to address the concerns and let the EU know about its time-bound plan of actions in this regard. When contacted, labour secretary Mikail Shipar said the government is working to make an action plan to address the issues raised by the ILO, taking the country's socio-economic situation into consideration. To look into the labour rights issues, the government is developing a database to put the complaints against violations of labour rights and how they were addressed. The EC's latest warning has come after suspension of Bangladesh's GSP benefit by the US government in June 2013. After the US's suspension of GSP, the EU earlier reminded Bangladesh authorities about necessary measures for ensuring workplace safety and labour rights in order to sustain its GSP benefit in EU markets.     munni_fe@yahoo.com....

Published at: 2017-03-24 00:00:04