BBC Documentary on Military in Business
'Trust Bank merchant bank'
Ansar-VDP Bank acts like microcredit institutions
The Trust Bank, sponsored by Army Welfare Trust, has not only become a commercial bank but also received permission to run its activities as a "merchant bank," in other words "an investment institution," said a BBC Bangla radio documentary yesterday.
It is not clear why the government is financing separate banks for different forces, said the documentary in its fourth part of the nine-episode series.
Another bank financed by the government is Ansar and VDP bank established for the Ansar and VDP forces. The bank was established after the Ansar mutiny, said the weekly documentary titled Fauji Banijjya (Military in business).
Activities of Ansar and VDP bank, however, is restricted within the force and the bank acts like a credit society, from where about 56 lakh Ansars across the country receive facilities like microcredit, consumer's credit, loan for agriculture based industry and SME.
“It is apparent that the bank of Ansar force is a bank of its forces while Trust Bank is the bank of army. Conceptually it is right. But with regards to operational activities, the banks differ from each other,” said Managing Director of the Ansar and VDP Bank Nurul Huda Chowdhury.
“Our work is within the force and we cannot go beyond this while the Trust Bank has gone beyond this limitation and received commercial licence,” he added.
The Trust Bank officially began its journey in 1999 with a revised investment of Tk 20 crore, which gradually increased over the years when capital was invested in the bank from the country's capital market.
According to an estimate published by the bank, its authorised investment stands at Tk 200 crore on March 31, 2008 when the bank had 38 branches across the country.
Annual report 2008 of the bank says the bank made a profit of Tk 24 crore in 2007. It became double in 2008 amounting to Tk 46 crore.
Though the profit exceeded Tk 61 crore in 2009, experts have doubted about its performance in banking sector with the rise of international banks and specialised banks.
State patronisation of the bank is visible regarding issuance of passports as it is entrusted with the job of issuing passports from the stage of submission of money for a passport.
“Tender open should be floated in this regard in accordance with the government's procurement guideline. Sometimes, the government can request a special force to do a particular job for making it fast. But it cannot be a permanent measure,” said former cabinet secretary Dr Akbar Ali Khan.
Though Bangladesh Army maintain secrecy about all their institutions, an information concerning former army chief Moeen U Ahmad, published by the bank itself caused sensation in 2007, at a time when it was widely believe that the caretaker government was run by the army.
The bank documents says Moeen took Tk 99 lakh as house building loan in 2005 but after one year his loan stood at Tk 33 lakh, raising questions about his sources of money.
The former army chief in an interview to BBC said the figure was false but those involved in preparing the report, including the bank and the audit firm, did not say it wrong.
Disagreeing with state patronisation behind the bank, its newly elected Managing Director Shah Alam Sarker said, “The bank runs like all other commercial banks and all restrictions applicable for private commercial banks is also applicable for our bank. There is no personal or institutional interference on this bank also.”
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. 
Related News
Boy found dead in Ctg monastery
5 July 2022, 18:00 PM
Crime & Justice
Eid joy marred by tragedy
5 July 2022, 18:00 PM
Bangladesh
Sitakunda Blast: Who started the fire?
5 July 2022, 18:00 PM
Accidents & Fires
Railway’s east zone reels from manpower crisis
5 July 2022, 18:00 PM
Transport
Barred from rally at Suhrawardy, BNP to hold protest across country tomorrow
13 November 2016, 07:30 AM
Politics
Comments