NRB blocks dividend of Nabil to NB International after CIAA launches probe into major shareholder

ShareSansar, January 21:

Nepal Rastra Bank Limited has blocked the dividend to NB International, a Bangladeshi partner that holds majority shares of Nabil Bank Limited.  

The central bank’s move comes close on the heels of the decision of the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) to launch an investigation into the involvement of the Bangladeshi company in the leading commercial bank of Nepal, which is also the first joint venture bank of the country.

“We have come to now from the CIAA sources that the anti-corruption watchdog has recently started investigation into NB Group’s stake in Nabil,” today’s Arthik Abhiyaan daily reports, quoting a highly placed central bank source.  

The source further said that the central bank decided to block the dividend earmarked for the NB international as the CIAA decided to investigate the background of the Bangladeshi company as it doubts whether it is a BFI or not in the first place, and if it still holds majority stake in Nabil Bank.

As per the prevalent laws that govern BFIs in Nepal, only foreign BFIs can enter into a joint venture with a Nepali BFI.  

A source said that the CIAA might have started the investigation, acting upon the autobiography of industrialist Binod Chaudhary that was published last year. In that book, Chaudhary has hinted how he managed to gain control of the bank by indirectly mobilizing NB International.