Dr. Younus follow up thread

[M.H.Rubel]

Muhammad Yunus
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Muhammad Yunus
মুহাম্মদ ইউনুসWelfare economics , Development economics , Public Health , Gender Studies , Political Philosophy , Utilitarianism

Muhammad Yunus at World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, 25 January 2012
Born 28 June 1940 (age 72)
Chittagong, Bangladesh
Nationality Bangladeshi
Institution Chittagong University
Shahjalal University of Science and Technology
Middle Tennessee State University
Field Microcredit, Welfare economics, ethics
Alma mater University of Dhaka
Vanderbilt University
Contributions Grameen Bank
Microcredit
Awards Independence Day Award (1987)
World Food Prize (1994)
Nobel Peace Prize (2006)
Presidential Medal of Freedom (2009)
Information at IDEAS/RePEc


Muhammad Yunus (Chittagonian, Bengali: মুহাম্মদ ইউনুস, pronounced Muhammôd Iunus; born 28 June 1940) is a Bangladeshi banker, economist and Nobel Peace Prize recipient. He previously was a professor of economics where he developed the concepts of microcredit and microfinance. These loans are given to entrepreneurs too poor to qualify for traditional bank loans. In 2006 Yunus and Grameen received the Nobel Peace Prize "for their efforts through microcredit to create economic and social development from below".[1] Yunus himself has received several other national and international honors.

He is a member of advisory board at Shahjalal University of Science and Technology. Previously, he was a professor of economics at Chittagong University where he developed the concepts of microcredit and microfinance. These loans are given to entrepreneurs too poor to qualify for traditional bank loans. He is the author of Banker to the Poor and two books on Social Business Models, and a founding board member of Grameen America and Grameen Foundation. Grameen Intel is just one of hundreds of public and private partnerships now mediated through Youth & Yunus. In early 2007 Yunus showed interest in launching a political party in Bangladesh named Nagorik Shakti (Citizen Power), but later discarded the plan. He is one of the founding members of Global Elders.

Yunus also serves on the board of directors of the United Nations Foundation, a public charity created in 1998 with entrepreneur and philanthropist Ted Turner’s historic $1 billion gift to support UN causes. The UN Foundation builds and implements public-private partnerships to address the world’s most pressing problems, and broadens support for the UN.[2]

In March 2011, after months of government attack, the Bangladesh government controversially fired Yunus from his position at Grameen Bank, citing legal violations and an age limit on his position.[3] Bangladesh's High Court affirmed the removal on 8 March. Yunus and Grameen Bank are appealing the decision, claiming Yunus' removal was politically motivated.

Professor Yunus was chosen by Wharton School of Business for PBS documentary, as one of 'The 25 Most Influential Business Persons of the Past 25 Years'.[4] In 2006, Time magazine listed him under "60 years of Asian Heroes" as one of the top 12 business leaders.[5] In 2008, in an open online poll, Yunus was voted the 2nd topmost intellectual person in the world on the list of Top 100 Public Intellectuals by Prospect Magazine (UK) and Foreign Policy (United States).[6] In 2012, Professor Yunus was named the Chancellor of Glasgow Caledonian University, Scotland.[7]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad_Yunus

[mufi_02]

[M.H.Rubel]

Govt move about Yunus unprecedented: BNP
Dr Yunus
UNB, Dhaka

Terming the cabinet decision about Prof Yunus unprecedented, BNP leader and senior lawyer Rafiqul Islam Miah on Thursday said the government has taken the move being envious of his success.


“The cabinet decision about Dr Muhammad Yunus is unprecedented in the world history. The cabinet decision about a person like Dr Yunus is painful,” he told a human chain in front of the National

Press Club.


Bangladesh Jatiyatabadi Sangskritik Foundation (BJSF), a pro-BNP body, arranged the programme protesting the ‘pernicious campaign’ against the Nobel Peace Prize winner and demanding an end to the government’s interference in Grameen Bank he founded.


On August 2, the cabinet approved a proposal for amending the Grameen Bank Ordinance 1983. It also asked the Banking and Financial Institution Division to inform it in consultation with the Bangladesh Bank how much salary and allowances Dr Yunus, the former managing director of microlender, had withdrawn after his 60 years of age.


It also directed the Banking and Financial Institution Division to be sure whether the withdrawal of those salary and allowances was done legally.


Directives were also given to the National Board of Revenue (NBR) whether there was any evidence of tax evasion in case of Dr Yunus’ foreign currency income shown as wage earners income.


Reacting to the cabinet decision, Rafiqul Islam said the government is tarnishing the image of the nation by taking such illogical steps against a personality of international repute.


He also asked the government to refrain from such heinous attempt to defame Yunus and withdraw the cabinet decision. Or else, he warned, the government will have to face a dire consequence for it.


Former BNP deputy minister Ruhul Quddus Talukder Dulu, party central leader Khairul Kabir Khokan and Jubo Dal president Moazzem Hossain Alal, among others, spoke at the programme chaired by BJSF president Humayun Kabir Bepari.

http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesig....php?nid=39846

[cricket_pagol]

What is the effective interest rate at Grameen bank?
http://blogs.cgdev.org/open_book/201...rest-rates.php

Answer: Close to 20%

[cricket_pagol]

Now, the govt is going after the board of directors in Grameen bank:
http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesig...php?nid=269773

The probe reports recommends the govt to nominating all the directors, even though govt owns only 3% share of the bank.

[Navo]

I'm not sure if this is necessary, given that the other Yunus thread is only 3 months old: http://www.banglacricket.com/alochon...ad.php?t=42216

Anyway, the Inquiry Commission established to investigate the operations of GB and its subsidiaries has published an interim report. I'll post an online link to it as soon as I find it.

[cricket_pagol]

Originally Posted by Navo
I'm not sure if this is necessary, given that the other Yunus thread is only 3 months old: http://www.banglacricket.com/alochon...ad.php?t=42216

Anyway, the Inquiry Commission established to investigate the operations of GB and its subsidiaries has published an interim report. I'll post an online link to it as soon as I find it.

I was looking for this thread, I could not find it. I think these two threads should be merged.

@Navo, I read the news report on the inquiry commission. I could not understand how it wants the govt to nominate all board of directors in Grameen Bank. Also, it emphasized that grameen bank is a govt bank, how true is this statement? I cannot reconcile it with the fact that govt has only 3% ownership of the bank.

[Navo]

Originally Posted by cricket_pagol
I was looking for this thread, I could not find it. I think these two threads should be merged.

@Navo, I read the news report on the inquiry commission. I could not understand how it wants the govt to nominate all board of directors in Grameen Bank. Also, it emphasized that grameen bank is a govt bank, how true is this statement? I cannot reconcile it with the fact that govt has only 3% ownership of the bank.

What the newspapers meant to say is that GB is a statutory public authority, as the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court declared that Grameen Bank is a statutory public authority and Dr. Yunus is a public servant back in 2011 after Dr. Yunus brought a writ petition against the Government of Bangladesh.

Anyway, I think I partly answered your question about GB's legal status here.

What I would add to that is, the "3%" is a misnomer. The fact that GB claims that the Government owns 3% is itself a violation of their governing ordinance as section 7 of the Ordinance states that the Government owns 25% of the share capital and the Bank 75%. Furthermore, and very importantly, it is very clear from this section and its legislative history (before the Bank was allowed 40% share and the Govt. 60% share) that the Government can simply amend the Ordinance to change the ratio of the share capital. It's a key difference form an ordinary articles of association.

[Jadukor]

all these ordinance matters go over my head. I simply think shareholders should elect the board of directors.

[ammark]

House & Senate Leaders Announce Gold Medal Ceremony for Professor Muhammad Yunus

http://www.speaker.gov/press-release...muhammad-yunus

Congratulations to Prof Yunus

[Jadukor]

wow.. finally some positive news!
congratulations to Dr. Younus

[cricket_pagol]

Originally Posted by Navo
What the newspapers meant to say is that GB is a statutory public authority, as the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court declared that Grameen Bank is a statutory public authority and Dr. Yunus is a public servant back in 2011 after Dr. Yunus brought a writ petition against the Government of Bangladesh.

Anyway, I think I partly answered your question about GB's legal status here.

What I would add to that is, the "3%" is a misnomer. The fact that GB claims that the Government owns 3% is itself a violation of their governing ordinance as section 7 of the Ordinance states that the Government owns 25% of the share capital and the Bank 75%. Furthermore, and very importantly, it is very clear from this section and its legislative history (before the Bank was allowed 40% share and the Govt. 60% share) that the Government can simply amend the Ordinance to change the ratio of the share capital. It's a key difference form an ordinary articles of association.

Thanks for insight. This effectively means that the govt can "nationalize" the bank by increasing their share, whenever they want to.

BTW in reference to your link, cricket_pagol (me) is not the same as CricketpagolChele

[cricket_pagol]

Originally Posted by ammark
House & Senate Leaders Announce Gold Medal Ceremony for Professor Muhammad Yunus

http://www.speaker.gov/press-release...muhammad-yunus

Congratulations to Prof Yunus

This announcement is for the ceremony, right? He got the award in 2010.

I am very proud of his achievements, I wish more Bangladeshis would feel the same way. However, i do wish that Dr. Yunis would ditch his sales pitch, and talk more accurate about grameen bank.

[cricket_pagol]

The directors of Grameen Bank respond to the interim probe report:
http://blogs.cgdev.org/open_book/201...-snap-back.php

Why is the govt trying to fix something that does not need to be fixed?

[cricket_pagol]

Originally Posted by Navo
What the newspapers meant to say is that GB is a statutory public authority, as the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court declared that Grameen Bank is a statutory public authority and Dr. Yunus is a public servant back in 2011 after Dr. Yunus brought a writ petition against the Government of Bangladesh.

Anyway, I think I partly answered your question about GB's legal status here.

What I would add to that is, the "3%" is a misnomer. The fact that GB claims that the Government owns 3% is itself a violation of their governing ordinance as section 7 of the Ordinance states that the Government owns 25% of the share capital and the Bank 75%. Furthermore, and very importantly, it is very clear from this section and its legislative history (before the Bank was allowed 40% share and the Govt. 60% share) that the Government can simply amend the Ordinance to change the ratio of the share capital. It's a key difference form an ordinary articles of association.

Navo Bhai, to be clear the govt currently owns 25% or 60% of Grameen capital? I am assuming it is 60% since they are taking over the governance. Any idea how much money the govt invested in the bank? How much is their current 60% worth? Must have been a killer investment.

The following link talks about the 25-75 split in ownership
http://blogs.cgdev.org/open_book/201...ameen-bank.php

BTW, the source of the 3% number comes from grameen bank dividend reports where they show that 3% of the dividends are paid to the government (as far as I know).

[Navo]

25%. Before reading the response of the Board of Directors, you should check out the Interim Report. Pages 3-6 and 8-12 talk about why the Commission was formed and its terms of reference while pages 18-21 detail the controversies surrounding the Commission.

In terms of the content itself, I think lay readers will find pages 22-46 most interesting as it chronicles the history of Grameen Bank, confirms its legal status and discusses its ownership.

It makes for very, very interesting reading and provides a lot of background - that is not well known to the vast majority of people.

[cricket_pagol]

Originally Posted by Navo
25%. Before reading the response of the Board of Directors, you should check out the Interim Report. Pages 3-6 and 8-12 talk about why the Commission was formed and its terms of reference while pages 18-21 detail the controversies surrounding the Commission.

In terms of the content itself, I think lay readers will find pages 22-46 most interesting as it chronicles the history of Grameen Bank, confirms its legal status and discusses its ownership.

It makes for very, very interesting reading and provides a lot of background - that is not well known to the vast majority of people.

I was disappointed that the commission minimizes the role on Dr. Yunus from inception of the bank to making the bank a success

On page 32 of the interim report:

The Ordinance states that the [B]“net annual profit of the Bank … shall be utilised in such manner as the Board may determine”.120 Thus, the Ordinance contemplates that Grameen Bank would make profit from its business. However, there is nothing in the Ordinance which gives the shareholders any right to receive any part of the profits as dividend or otherwise. The Board may have discretion to divide profits or a part of it amongst its shareholders. The word “utilized” may suggest a different way of use or disposal of “profits” meaning that they should be used for generating more income rather than distributing the profits to shareholders. The Commission is of the view that it perhaps does not permit the payment of ‘dividends’ to shareholders as is expressly permitted under other laws or statute. It also does not preclude payouts to lawful stakeholders of Grameen Bank.

I feel that is a pretty twisted view that the share holders cannot get dividends, even if the board decides.

Anyway, here is a very interesting post on the interim report (discussing positives and negatives):
http://blogs.cgdev.org/open_book/201...ion-report.php
(check the comments in the blog as well)

[Navo]

Thanks for that. Will check it out tomorrow. I definitely think that Dr. Yunus should receive a bit more credit for GB's establishment, than he is currently getting from the State, even if he is a public servant, but at the same time I think such an investigation is necessary.

[tejkuni]

Originally Posted by cricket_pagol
This announcement is for the ceremony, right? He got the award in 2010.

I am very proud of his achievements, I wish more Bangladeshis would feel the same way. However, i do wish that Dr. Yunis would ditch his sales pitch, and talk more accurate about grameen bank.

In 2010 he got Presidential medal, this time congressional medal.

[Navo]

^ No, on 5 October 2010, he was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal. See here: http://history.house.gov/Institution...al-Recipients/

[tejkuni]

Originally Posted by Navo
^ No, on 5 October 2010, he was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal. See here: http://history.house.gov/Institution...al-Recipients/

I stand corrected

[cricket_pagol]

Congrats to Dr. Yunus.

Yunus is only the 17th person in history to have won both the Congressional Gold Medal and the Presidential Medal of Freedom, another of the highest US civilian awards. Yunus won the latter award in 2009.
http://www.thedailystar.net/beta2/ne...n-rare-honour/


What a con job, right? He fooled the entire world, but couldn't fool the bangladeshi people (sarcastic comment).

[Zeeshan]

Congrats!

[BANFAN]

Originally Posted by cricket_pagol
Congrats to Dr. Yunus.

Yunus is only the 17th person in history to have won both the Congressional Gold Medal and the Presidential Medal of Freedom, another of the highest US civilian awards. Yunus won the latter award in 2009.
http://www.thedailystar.net/beta2/ne...n-rare-honour/


What a con job, right? He fooled the entire world, but couldn't fool the bangladeshi people (sarcastic comment).

Little Mishtake: He only Couldn't fool one person; the most number of Purchased PHD holder of the world; Hon'ble Sheikh Hasina; (No Wajed; Coz She has more degrees than him)

[BANFAN]

Congrats !! Professor, the "Pide of the Nation".