Staff Reporter :
Grameen Bank, the Nobel Prize-winning microfinance institution, is set for a significant restructuring of its ownership and governance.
The government has proposed reducing its stake in the bank from 25 per cent to just 5 per cent and curtailing its authority on the board by limiting its director appointments from three, including the chairman, to one.
The draft proposal has been published on the Financial Institutions Division’s website for stakeholder feedback.
An anonymous official stated, “The objective is to restore the government’s stake and board representation to the pre-2011 framework. Discussions with Grameen Bank’s legal advisers informed the draft’s formulation.”
The proposed amendment also seeks to end the government’s authority to appoint the bank’s chairman. Instead, the 12-member board will elect the chairman under the new arrangement.
Currently, the law permits the managing director and CEO of Grameen Bank to serve until the age of 60. The draft retains this provision but allows the board to extend the managing director’s tenure to a maximum of 65 years if deemed necessary for operational reasons.
The official noted that the new structure would enhance control for the bank’s microcredit borrowers while reducing state involvement in its affairs.
Established through the Grameen Bank Ordinance of 1983 and later governed by the Grameen Bank Act of 2013, the bank primarily focuses on microcredit and is not a Scheduled Bank.
Grameen Bank was founded by Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus, who served as its managing director until 2011, when he was forced to step down by the Awami League government, citing his age. This decision attracted widespread criticism both domestically and internationally.
Following the fall of Sheikh Hasina’s government, the Ministry of Finance appointed a new chairman to the bank. In October last year, the interim government reinstated a tax exemption for Grameen Bank, extending it for five years until December 2029. The exemption, granted since the bank’s establishment in 1983, had been discontinued in 2020.
The proposed reforms aim to ensure a greater role for Grameen Bank’s borrowers while reducing government control, aligning the institution closer to its founding principles.
