Credibility of Prime Commercial Bank at stake !

KATHMANDU, AUGUST 28: Over the past year, a prominent commercial bank in the country has faced a series of actions and allegations. During the previous fiscal year, Nepal Rastra Bank  (NRB) took punitive measures against Prime Commercial Bank three times for violating established rules and regulations.

In the first quarter of 2022/23, the bank faced action for conducting transactions through blocked accounts in defiance of the central bank's directives.

The bank was also fined Rs 5 million for breaching the Money Laundering Act 2008 in the second quarter.

Similarly, in the fourth quarter of last year, the bank encountered action for three distinct offenses. The first was non-compliance with the loan loss provision outlined in the Unified Directives 2079 BS issued by the NRB.

The second misdeed was manipulating risk-weighted assets below their actual value, disregarding the 'Capital Adequacy Framework 2015'.

The third offense involved charging interest by increasing the premium rate, contrary to the provision of Section 100 of the Unified Directives 2079 BS.

Furthermore, the bank is currently facing accusations of defrauding Rs 50 million from one of its customers. According to reports, Panthi Diary Pvt Ltd, located in the Pokhara Industrial Estate in the Kaski district, lost the mentioned amount while opening a Letter of Credit (LC) with the bank.

These illicit activities on the part of Prime have given ample space to question its very credibility, according to observers.