Bangladesh Bank will give final approval for getting licence to NRB Commercial Bank in its next board meeting to be held on February 3, BB officials said on Sunday.
They said the names of four more proposed bank might be placed before the central bank’s board on the day for providing final approval after completing scrutiny process.
‘NRB Commercial Bank has fulfilled all the conditions set by the BB and it showed a power-point presentation at today’s board meeting,’ BB deputy governor SK Sur Chowdhury told reporters after the board meeting at the BB headquarters in the capital.
In the power-point presentation, the proposed bank detailed its future business plans and the BB board became satisfied, he said.
The BB is likely to provide final approval for getting licence to NRB Commercial Bank in its next board meeting, he said.
Sur said, ‘Three to four proposed banks may present their business plans in the next board meeting.’
If any proposed bank fails to fulfil the conditions set by the BB, the central bank will not place the bank’s name before its board, he said.
Proposed NRB Commercial Bank chairman Farasat Ali told New Age on Sunday that his bank had fulfilled all the conditions set by the BB.
The proposed bank has already completed preparations and is ready to launch its banking operation, he said.
A senior BB official said that 53 non-resident Bangladeshis of 12 different countries were sponsoring NRB Commercial Bank.
He said that the central bank might place names of four other proposed banks before its board in its next meeting as the process of the scrutiny of the banks was in the last stage.
The proposed banks are Meghna Bank, South Bangla Agriculture and Commerce Bank, Midland Bank and Union Bank.
The BB official, however, said some sponsors of the four proposed banks were yet to fulfil the conditions set by the central bank.
The central bank in April last year issued letters of intent to the sponsors of the proposed nine banks including three banks to be set up by non-resident Bangladeshis.
Although BB initially planned to give permission to set up three to four new banks, it selected the nine applications from 39 because of huge political pressure.
The sponsors of the selected proposed banks are either from ruling party-led alliance or businessmen backed by the ruling party.
The proposed Farmers Bank led by home minister Mohiuddin Khan Alamgir and NRB Global Bank led by Nizam Chowdhury, an Awami League leader in the USA, are yet to fulfil condition of collecting Tk 400 paid-up capital, the BB official said.
As per the conditions set by the BB, a proposed bank will have to collect a paid-up capital of Tk 400 crore to get final approval from the central bank, he added.