One of the longest-serving employees in the national bank, Aishath Noordeen, has resigned from the bank's board of directors.
Her resignation from the Bank of Maldives (BML) came after the Privatization and Corporatization Board (PCB) sent a letter to dismiss her from the board of directors and the position of Deputy CEO.
BML has now announced her resignation.
PCB's letter was sent amid reports that BML was planning changes to dollar transactions due to the financial crisis. The bank announced the suspension of dollar transactions from Rufiyaa accounts on Sunday.
Despite PSB's letter of dismissal, the bank's statutes do not allow the dismissal of board members through a letter.
The statutes clearly define the composition of the board, their term and the rules for retiring, disqualification and removal of directors.
Clause 58 of the statutes states the rules for retiring, disqualification and removal of directors. It mentions 10 circumstances in which the post of director can become vacant. This does not include dismissal by the PCB or the government.
Clause 58 (b) states the process to be followed if the government wants to dismiss directors. A resolution has to be passed by 51 percent of the shareholders present at a meeting of shareholders. As the main shareholder of the bank, the government can easily do this without the vote of the public shareholders.
According to Clause 56 of the statutes, a director is required to continue performing their duties until the next Annual General Meeting unless removed in accordance with the statutes.
BML CEO and Managing Director Karl Stumke has previously said that "difficult decisions" could be made as the amount of dollars available to buy is less than the amount sold.
Earlier on Sunday, the bank said the decision to restrict dollar transactions was made "in response to the escalating usage of foreign currency spent on cards and the static sale of foreign currency to the bank."
However, BML later announced that the decision had been reversed based on instructions from the central bank MMA.
Noordeen is one of the longest-serving employees at BML. She joined the bank in 1982 and has served as the acting CEO and Managing Director over the last 40 years.
She served as BML's Managing Director four times and was the bank's top executive before the current CEO Karl Stumke took over.
