Bangladesh Bank is working to take disciplinary action against the treasury heads of 10 commercial banks over selling US dollars at prices higher than the fixed rate.

The central bank sent letters to these banks mentioning the offence with instructions of punishment.

Bangladesh Bank stated in the letter that the treasury chief cannot ignored the responsibility of such offence.

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Banks’ treasury departments handle the demand and supply of money and dollars. In some banks, there is also an officer, of deputy managing director rank, as the head of the treasury department.

According to information from various sources, the 10 concerned banks are: Mercantile Bank, Premier Bank, BRAC Bank, Madhumati Bank, Midland Bank, Exim Bank, Social Islami Bank, Al-Arafah Islami Bank, Shahjalal Islami Bank and Trust Bank.

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Sources said this number of banks may increase.

In August last year, Bangladesh Bank removed the heads of the treasury departments of six domestic and foreign banks based on the same complaint. But in the end, the regulatory body could not uphold that decision.

Chairman of Association of Bankers, Bangladesh (ABB) and Managing Director (MD) of BRAC Bank, Salim RF Hossain, said that this is a bilateral issue between the central bank and the respective scheduled banks. “Such letters come regularly. Therefore, I do not want to make any specific comments on this issue,” he said.

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