Newly elected NRB Commercial Bank Chairman Tamal SM Parvez yesterday said Bangladesh Bank does not have “any clear guideline” on NRB banks and how they can mobilise capital from expatriate Bangladeshis.

Parvez, who replaced Farasath Ali of the troubled bank on Sunday, told this to reporters after separate meetings with BB deputy governors at the central bank. BB Governor Fazle Kabir is currently abroad.

Newly elected Vice Chairman Mohammad Shahid Islam and risk management committee Chairman Adnan Imam were also present.

“There is now no difference between the NRB banks and other private commercial banks due to the lack of central bank guidelines,” Parvez said.

Whatever is available does not give any clear indication on ways expatriate Bangladeshis will be able to invest their funds in an NRB bank, he said.

On alleged anonymous shares in NRBC Bank, he said, “We will not allow any anonymous share in the bank or an outsider in our board meeting,” he said.

NRBC Bank on Sunday restructured its board of directors and elected new faces to key positions. The development came after BB last week advised the four-year-old bank to reform its board on its own accord.

In November last year, the central bank found 10 counts of wrongdoings by the NRBC board, including violation of credit norms to sanction loans amounting to over Tk 700 crore and outsiders being often allowed to attend meetings.

The BB found former Mercantile Bank chairman Shahidul Ahsan, while holding office, had drawn benefits from nearly Tk 44 crore-worth shares held by two sponsor-directors in NRBC, which is a breach of the banking company act.

“Ahsan is the actual beneficiary of the shares held by two NRBC directors -- Kamrun Nahar Sakhi and ABM Abdul Mannan,” said the BB report, adding that it meant the shares were forfeitable.

Ahsan represented Sakhi, who lives in Canada, in an annual general meeting of NRBC. He also attended several meetings of the bank's board and the executive committee breaching the rules.

The new board will introduce new credit and deposit products for NRBs, said Parvez. The board will work tirelessly to bring back depositors' confidence and follow central bank directives to restore corporate governance, he said.