Banks cannot accept International Awards without NRB’s permission; officials told to bring down foreign trips

Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has made it compulsory from now onwards for class A, B and C licensed Banks and Financial Institutions (BFIs) to get its permission before those institutions could accept awards from foreign agencies. The directive issued by NRB states that the central bank has made it mandatory for BFIs to submit necessary documents at the time of seeking the permission that establish the legitimacy and credibility of foreign entities to provide such awards. The directives have also clarified that the BFIs should not accept awards if such awards are being provided for donations or other financial assistance provided by the awarded banking institutions. The directives further reads that NRB has made it mandatory for BFIs to implement a guideline on foreign trips of chairman, CEO and board members of BFIs within mid-April. The guideline should authorize Board of Directors to sanction foreign trips upon assessment of benefits that BFIs could derive from these visits. The apex bank brought into effect these binding measures as expenses of BFIs on foreign trips supposedly to attend award ceremonies have started increasing recently, according to the regulator.