The bank founded by Muhammad Yunus, the Nobel Prize winning microfinance pioneer, defied an order by Bangladesh’s financial regulator to remove him from office.
Setting the stage for a battle for control of the lender, Grameen Bank said Mr Yunus, 70, remained at the helm after Bangladesh Bank, the central bank that regulates the financial sector, said Mr Yunus had been “relieved of his responsibilities as managing director”.
Bangladesh Bank said Mr Yunus’s appointment at Grameen, the trailblazing microlender, had been “non-compliant” with a special law governing the institution. Earlier this week, the central bank said it had not sanctioned Mr Yunus remaining in office after his 60th birthday, the usual retirement age.