A whopping 178 cases have been filed at the Commerce Tribunal, a fast-track court set up at the Appellate Court, Lalitpur, against different banks and financial institutions claiming misappropriation of 10 billion rupees by these banks and financial institutions. [break]
The Appellate Court formed a commerce tribunal and designated seven judges for the speedy hearing of these cases, said Registrar at the Court, Bhupadhwaj Niraula.
Cases have been filed against operators, promoters, board of directors and employees of Infrastructure Development Bank, Kist Bank Limited, Gorkha Development Bank, H and B Development Bank, Capital Merchant Banking and Finance, Nepal Share Markets Private Limited, Nepal -Srilanka Merchant Banking and Finance, Progressive Finance, Samjhana Finance, Crystal Finance and General Finance Limited on charge of embezzlement of millions of rupees.
There are one hundred and fifty cases of misappropriation of loan alone, and limited resources-- both physical and human-- have hindered much in pronouncing judgments according to the concept of Fast Track Court, opines registrar Niroula.
"Most of the cases are at their initial stage, the accused are absconding and around one hundred people from a single institution have been challenged," Niroula said regarding the cause of slow verdict pronouncement.
He said that 94 people of Infrastructure Development Bank alone have been indicted and the high pressure of cases and number of accused has delayed the court from making prompt decision on these cases.
According to registrar Niroula, 99 out of the 257 cases filed in the Commerce Court have been settled and 22 people have been detained for interrogation.
Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), the regulatory body, Yubaraj Khatiwada, claimed that the central bank has been continuously monitoring whether the Banking Crimes and Punishment Act, the Bank and Financial Institutions Act, the Nepal Rastra Bank Act and the directives it has issued from time to time have been followed or not, reiterating that the central bank was always committed to maintaining financial discipline.
"New tools keep on coming in the financial sector with the increase in the number of Banks and Financial Institutions (BFIs), and we should amend and revise the financial Acts and Regulations to keep them in tune with the time," Gopvernor Khatiwada said, pointing out to the fact that financial crimes could not be addressed if the existing laws were not implemented and new ones not drafted.
He said that NRB was regularly monitoring the situation to prevent illegal transactions in the BFIs and taking necessary action against errant banks and financial institutions by placing them under constant surveillance.
The NRB Governor vowed to prevent any type of lacunae from occurring in any BFI and to take stern action against the erring banks and financial institutions.
"NRB has been constantly reminding the board of directors, promoters, the CEOs and other officers of the banks and financial institutions about their responsibilities, and it has also been conducting a financial literacy campaign in that connection," he said.
Former finance minister Dr Prakash Chandra Lohani underlined the need of coordination between the Ministry of Finance and NRB for minimizing the financial crimes and that both these agencies should work with full commitment.
"NRB and the Ministry of Finance should not drag their feet in strictly enforcing the existing laws," he added, highlighting the importance of maintaining synergy in work between these bodies.
President of Nepal Bankers´ Association, Rajan Singh Bhandari, said that since the supervisory capacity of NRB was very much effective, it has helped maintain stability in the financial sector. However, he said that the central bank has not been able to get success to the desired extent in checking inflation and shoring up the balance of payment savings.
NRB has been keeping an eye on and specially monitoring the banking sector in a bid to curb the incidents of financial crime and this has encouraged the private sector banks to carry out their business, said Chandra Raj Dhakal, Chairman of Global Bank Limited.
He is of the view that the problem could be minimized if the banks issued cheques only if they have adequate savings in their accounts and if the managers and executives, without solely relying on their staff, ´cross-checked´ the transactions and their books from time to time.
Engineer Baburam Bharadwaj, who has been associated for long in the hydropower development sector, said that a hydroelectricity project with a capacity of generating 60 Megawatts power could be built and electrification carried out in more than 12 districts with the amount of Rs 10 billion that is said to be embezzled by the different BFIs as is claimed in the cases filed against them in the Commerce Court.
He suggested that the NRB should take tough measures to check financial crimes by BFIs as these have had a devastating impact on the country´s entire financial sector.
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