Foreløbig rapport fra en kommission i Bangladesh om Muhammed Yunus´ Grameen (landsby) bank afslører bl.a., at hundredtusinder af fattige aktionærer og kunder, der modtager små lån, reelt står uden indflydelse i bestyrelsen, selv om de har flertal.
The government-sponsored Grameen Bank Commission in Bangladesh in an interim report has suggested dissolution (opløsning) of the Board of Directors of the microcredit organisation, writes the internet-based newspaper bdnews24.com Friday.
Man kan læse den spændende, men digre rapport på
http://www.mof.gov.bd/en/budget/gb/Grameen_Bank_Interim_Report.pdf
The report submitted on Thursday said the incumbent (siddende) directors should no longer hold office, as the election rules of the organisation are not in line with the ordinance (bestemmelser) that governs the microlender.
The Grameen Bank Election Rules 1987 runs contrary to the fundamental mandate of the Ordinance and so it is essential to scrap the rules soon, the commission suggested.
Sixteen months after Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus was forced by the (statslige) central bank to step down as the Managing Director of the Grameen bank, the government on May 15 last year formed the four-strong panel to review the activities of Grameen Bank and make recommendations on how to run the organisation.
The commission was tasked to identify institutional strengths, weaknesses and constraints of Grameen Bank and recommend measures for good governance, accountability of the management and transparency in the bank.
It was also to recommend ways to bring the institution and its subsidiaries under the purview of state regulatory agencies (ind under statens myndighed).
Ønsker direkte kundeindflydelse på bankens bestyrelse
The commission submitted its interim report with 14 recommendations to the Ministry of Finance after nearly nine months of investigation.
It recommended making new policies to ensure the direct participation of customers and shareholders in electing directors.
Grameen Bank came into existence in 1983. The bank and its founding Managing Director Yunus were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 for efforts to alleviate poverty through micro-credit.
A Norwegian TV ran a documentary on Dec 30, 2010 titled “Caught in Micro debt”, which accused Yunus of transferring money from one fund to another, kicking up widespread criticism.
The government formed a committee to review the activities of the bank. A report of the committee showed various irregularities in the activities of the bank and its associate organisations.
Meanwhile, (den statslige) Bangladesh Bank relieved Yunus of his duties on Mar 2, 2011 as the Grameen Bank Managing Director. Yunus moved (gik i) the High Court against the decision, but the court scrapped his plea (afviste hans klagemål).
The government remained resolute despite alleged pressures from donor agencies and the US to reinstate Yunus.
In September last year, the government amended a law on appointing directors to the bank. A committee was also formed over the appointment of directors. The committee, however, is yet to make any recommendation.
Citat 1: “De siger aldrig noget”
Det første citat fra den 137 sider lange rapport beskriver møder i bestyrelsen.
Heraf fremgår det, at flertallet på ni kundevalgte medlemmer har ringe uddannelse og forudsætninger for at sætte sig ind i komplicerede økonomiske spørgsmål og gøre sig gældende.
Derfor siger de angiveligt aldrig noget.
De er tillige låntagere og risikerer at stå i en vanskelig rolle, hvis de kommer bankens ledelse på tværs.
“The Board of Directors of Grameen Bank consists of 13 members including the Managing Director. Among them, 3 members including the chairman are selected by the government, 9 are elected from the shareholders of Grameen Bank, and the Managing Director (as a non-voting member) is included ex officio. All 9 of the directors elected by the shareholders have low level formal education”.
“In the Board meetings, the annual reports, various important documents, and contracts with national and foreign institutions are presented. The shareholder-directors are not found to actively take part in the decision making of the Board with proper and adequate understanding of the significance of the complex issues by carrying out careful reviews and analysis”.
“The review of the minutes (referater) of the meetings of the Board also does not reveal active participation of the government nominated members. After reviewing more than 30 of the minutes of the meetings of the board, no active participation of the 9 shareholder members and 2 of the 3 government appointed members were found”.
Citat 2: “Grameen har tendens til at overtræde love og regler”
Det andet citat beskæftiger sig med det forhold, at Grameen Banken er blevet et vanskeligt gennemskueligt forretningsimperium med tråde ud til alle mulige dele af det bangalske samfund:
“Grameen Bank has become a large organization by expanding its activities throughout the country and in its extensive programs of action. But a clear tendency to violate laws and rules is observed in respect of administrative decisions, purchases, the participatory role of directors in the Board of Directors, the creation of various companies outside Grameen Bank, use of funds, inter-company fund transfer etcetera”.
“In effect, the organization evolved as a person-dependent one instead of as a rule-dependent one. In these circumstances, it is necessary to draft a national policy regarding the scope of action of Grameen Bank to ensure the effectiveness of the efforts to provide collateral-free credit (lån uden sikkerhed i f.eks. fast ejendom) to the rural landless for poverty alleviation and to ensure successful recovery”.
“In the formulation of this policy, the matters of microcredit, and the governance of Grameen Bank and its affiliated companies must be kept in mind”.
Rapporten rummer bl.a. en gennemgang af de mange selskaber.
Der er meget andet læseværdigt i den – også for folk uden for “mikrofinans-industrien”.
