

Bangladesh government to seize control of Grameen Bank - austenallred
http://m.us.wsj.com/articles/a/SB10001424127887323420604578649732663546980?mg=reno64-wsj

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rayiner
Grameen bank is not without problems: [http://www.cgdev.org/blog/much-grameen-
bank-investigation-si...](http://www.cgdev.org/blog/much-grameen-bank-
investigation-signifying-what)

The Bengali government's investigation came in response to an investigation by
the Norwegian government (which turned up nothing, to be fair):
[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfina...](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/8320325/Mohammad-
Yunuss-Grameen-Bank-in-turmoil.html)

I encourage you to read the article. The bank has become involved in all sorts
of unrelated enterprises. And micro lending has hit major snags in India,
where it has strayed from the original principles of Grameen and become a
general payday scam.

I'm far from one to defend the Bengali government. It's the poster child of a
well intentioned democracy that ultimately succumbed to the character flaws of
its polity. The trajectory was a bitter disappointment to my dad, who was an
enthusiastic college student during the Bengali independence.

All that said, there are two sides to every story, especially in a place like
Bangladesh. The comments below are certainly true, though: Dr. Yunus has
contemplated getting into politics and that has the existing parties, headed
by hereditary chairwoman, very nervous.

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hpagey
Not to nitpick, but I think you mean Bangladeshi Government not Bengali. I was
confused when I read Bengali Government. For sec, I thought you were
referencing to West Bengal government.

~~~
taway2012
I thought that intermixing of words was interesting to see. People of the
country of Bangladesh (Bangla + desh) are culturally Bengali. Maybe the people
of Bangladesh refer to their govt. as "Bangla govt.", which translates into
English as "Bengali govt."

~~~
kghose
This is a good point. I'm Bengali (but from the western part). People I have
met from the eastern part (Bangladesh) identify themselves culturally as
Bengali, but politically as Bangladeshi. So the adjective is Bangladeshi
(Bangladeshi government, Bangladeshi flag, Bangladeshi Army etc etc).

As an aside Bangla = the ethnicity, Desh = Country, so country of the
Bengalis.

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capex
Dr Younas, the founder of Grameen Bank is a larger-than-life figure in
Bangladesh, and a nobel prize winner. His social business empire is now so
big, that the government is fearing a scenario where Dr Younas takes part in
politics and drives all others out. This is a real possibility they can't
ignore, and so the government is trying its best to fabricate stories and
discredit this guy.

~~~
yaix
They have been doing it for many years. They forced him out years ago. And
really, this type of power plays "no matter what the cost" is very common in
developing countries and a major reason why countries do not develop.

~~~
anonymousDan
On this thread, I can really recommend the book "Why nations fail" by Acemoglu
and Robinson for an explanation of why this is a common story.

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denzil_correa
Bangladesh government has denied plans to take over Grameen Bank.

[http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/08/06/bangladesh-denies-
pl...](http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/08/06/bangladesh-denies-plan-to-take-
over-grameen/)

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cynusx
looks like the bangladeshi government wants to tap new sources of revenue by
taking over successful businesses, textbook political corruption.

~~~
pavs
Thats not true, the government actually owns a large share of Grameen bank.
Actually they are the largest shareholder of GB. Technically and legally the
government has the right to take over the bank and restructure it in according
to the "constitution" of the bank. There are some minor discrepancies, nothing
serious. However they could have handled it better, more diplomatically
without pissiing off everyone.

It goes without saying, as others mentioned already, the current government is
rightfully scared of Yunus, he is extremely popular and well received by
everyone outside the current political parties. At one time, he contemplated
joining politics; but decided against it. If he decides to run again, he can
single handedly wipe out the current political status quo.

It doesn't look like he is interested in getting his hands dirty.

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contingencies
Is there any country in which the relationship between the finance sector and
politics is _not_ ultra-seedy and ridden with dirty laundry and media-swipes?

Regardless of what winds up happening, best of luck to the Bangladeshi people.

