Finance ministry asks FRC chairman to explain

The Finance Ministry has asked Financial Reporting Council (FRC) Chairman Md Hamid Ullah Bhuiyan to explain an incident of cash withdrawal from the entity’s bank account.

On August 18, 2021, he withdrew Tk 10 lakh from the FRC’s bank account opened with Pubali Bank’s Mohakhali Corporate Branch, sources said.

The ministry found a mismatch in the FRC’s bank account statement for the fiscal year 2021–22.

When asked, the FRC chairman told The Business Post on Tuesday, “I needed money urgently for my family’s needs. So, I withdrew Tk 10 lakh, including my one month salary, from the organisation’s bank account, which was later adjusted.”

“The ministry has misunderstood the matter. I would respond to the ministry’s show cause notice shortly,” he said.

It was stated that there are no options of cash transactions in case of large amount and payment must be made through crossed cheque, as per the Finance Ministry’s letter dated August 28 issued to the FRC chairman.

The letter, however, instructed the FRC chairman to provide an explanation as to how a cash withdrawal of Tk 10 lakh was approved.

Bhuiyan was a professor in the Department of Accounting & Information Systems at the University of Dhaka prior to joining the FRC in October 2020 as its chairman for four years.

The FRC is a 12-members body drawing representatives from the government, the Bangladesh Bank, the BSEC, the FBCCI, the academia, and the professional accounting bodies.

The government enacted the FRC act in 2015 to regulate auditors as they are often blamed for cooking financial statements of companies.