Grameen Bank can’t nominate board members

Grameen Bank has no ownership of Grameen Kalyan and Grameen Telecom and it does not have the legal authority to nominate directors and chairman at the two non-profits, said the Yunus Centre yesterday.

Yunus Centre said this in a statement a day after Grameen Bank's board defended its decision to nominate directors, and chairman, for seven social business organisations founded by Nobel laureate Prof Muhammad Yunus.

As per law, neither Grameen Bank, nor any member of the board of directors, nor Prof Yunus own the non-profits, including Grameen Kalyan and Grameen Telecom, said Yunus Centre, which promotes Prof Yunus' philosophy and his concept of social business.

The organisations were established through individual initiatives of sponsor-members. These are separate not-for-profit legal entities, it added.

Prof Yunus had been the chairman of Grameen Kalyan and Grameen Telecom since the two institutions were formed, said the statement.

Grameen Bank initially had the power to nominate the chairman and some board members as mentioned in the articles of association. In May 2010, the articles were amended at Extraordinary General Meetings (EGM) of Grameen Kalyan and Grameen Telecom, leaving Grameen Bank with no authority to nominate directors.

The decisions of the EGMs were submitted to the Ministry of Commerce, and Grameen Bank cannot nominate chairman or board members for the two institutions, said the statement.

Grameen Bank's nominated representatives attended the EGMs and signed the resolution on behalf of the bank.

According to the Articles of Association of the companies, Grameen Bank is not a party to these institutions.

Prof Yunus does not have any ownership of any Grameen Bank organisations. He was only a full-time official, added the statement.

Prof Yunus, who along with Grameen Bank got the Nobel Prize for peace in 2006, has no ownership of Grameen Bank or any other institution created by him.

"He has never taken any money or honorarium from any institution he created. He has drawn salary as per the bank's pay-scale only during his tenure with Grameen Bank."

Regarding the allegation of money laundering brought by the current Grameen Bank board, the centre said the bank has been audited annually by renowned auditors that include Rahman Rahman Huq, Hoda Vasi Chowdhury & Co, ACNABIN, A. Qasem & Co.

The audits never found financial irregularities in this institution at any time.

Also, the inspection team of Bangladesh Bank and the committee and commission formed by the government had not found any irregularity, it added.

From Grameen Bank's inception to Prof Yunus's tenure as chairman, the board of directors was managed by respected and learned persons of the society who were all appointed by the government.

The claim that Grameen Telecom Bhaban was constructed with money from Grameen Bank is "motivated and baseless".

Grameen Kalyan was established in 1996 to provide primary healthcare by following principles of social business.

Before 1995, Grameen Bank received soft loans and grants from various donors and lending institutions. And as per the donors' condition, a Social Advancement Fund was created based on 2 percent of the funds.

The donors suggested that this fund be used for welfare of members and staff, it added.

According to an agreement between Grameen Bank and Grameen Kalyan, the fund was transferred to Grameen Kalyan for various welfare programmes, including providing interest on higher education loans given to children of Grameen Bank members.

As of 2023, the organisation paid Tk 555 crore for the said purpose and various activities of Grameen Bank, said the Yunus Centre.

Grameen Kalyan runs 143 health centres that benefit over 7 lakh people across the country every year, it added.

Regarding the claim that Prof Yunus received a Tk 24 crore grant from Grameen Bank during the establishment of Grameen Telecom, the statement said a Tk 24.77 crore loan was taken between 1995 and 1997 under an agreement to borrow Tk 30 crore from the Social Advancement Fund at 11 percent interest rate.