Editorial
Rupali sale debacle
Go to the bottom, hold the responsible to account
After keeping Rupali Bank in hibernation for a long time, but in a state of suspended animation that a Saudi prince was about to salvage it by buying it off, the sale process initiated some two years ago has come to naught -- thanks to the buyer reneging on the price he had originally offered. Having been the highest bidder at US$ 458 million and thus apparently winning the deal, the Saudi prince Bandar had since dragged his feet. Only in December last year, that too departing from normal practice, he wrote to Army Chief General Moeen U Ahmed to say he was willing to pay only US$ 185 million. Small wonder, the government has decided to terminate the sale contract.
The bona fides of the Saudi prince has come under question-mark. His Bangladesh agent is said to be an international arms dealer, so that the credentials of the buyer group were suspected to be dubious, more so because they didn't have any background of investing in or running of banks or financial institutions. Why in the first place, before making a deal with him two years ago, the highest bidder's professional background, especially his eligibility was not fully gone into? The caretaker government must be thanked for preventing the bank going into wrong hands.
The waste of time and money is highly regrettable. Some Tk 35crore has been spent on the privatisation venture. In compliance with donors' condition, a foreign consultancy firm was appointed at Tk 17crore 70 lakh. Besides, the privatisation commission sent delegations abroad in search of foreign buyers spending Tk 17crore on so-called 'road shows'.
We are not aware whether, according to privatisation commission's stipulation, the Saudi prince had made security deposit of 2.5 percent of the total price quoted for the bank by him. Could we get compensation for the loss of time and money?
Experienced bankers and leaders of financial institutions tend to sniff wrongdoing behind the deal made during the former government. They suspect that the buyer has decided to back out with the change of government apprehending that they couldn't execute their hidden plans .
We would, therefore, urge the government to get to the bottom of the affair, identify those responsible and hold them to account. The ACC may like to go into it.
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