Speial Correspondent : The Grameen Bank Amendment Ordinance received preliminary approval during a meeting of the Advisory Council on Thursday (April 17), reducing the government’s ownership share from 25% to 10% and allocating the remaining 90% to the bank’s beneficiaries.

Syeda Rizwana Hasan, the environment advisor, shared this information during a briefing at the Foreign Service Academy in Dhaka.

Earlier in the day, the Advisory Council meeting was held at the office of the Chief Advisor, chaired by Nobel laureate economist Professor Muhammad Yunus.

The environment advisor stated that Grameen Bank previously operated with a core principle: empowering its beneficiaries by involving them in the bank’s governance.

However, she alleged that Professor Yunus—the bank’s founder and a Nobel Prize-winning economist—was politically targeted, and the government took significant control, deviating from his vision of borrower-owned microfinance.

The amended ordinance now redefines the bank’s focus, expanding its scope beyond rural landless populations to include the urban poor, incorporating city corporations and municipalities.

Under the revised ordinance, nine directors will be elected from among the bank’s beneficiaries, with three nominated from this group, including the chairman.

Additionally, the paid-up capital structure has been adjusted—previously, the government held 25%, and beneficiaries held 75%; now, it stands at 10% and 90%, respectively.

Furthermore, the ordinance includes a provision to classify Grameen Bank as a “public interest entity” under the Financial Reporting Act 2015.