Nazim calls for Maldivians in BML top posts
Debating the Companies Act amendment bill, Nazim said one of the reasons for the bill was the sudden vacancy on the BML board.
Deputy speaker Ahmed Nazim on Sunday called on the government to appoint Maldivians to responsible positions in Bank of Maldives (BML).
Debating the Companies Act amendment bill in an extraordinary parliament sitting, Nazim said one of the reasons for the bill was the sudden vacancy on the BML board.
Nazim said BML CEO and Managing Director Karl Stumke had resigned while an extraordinary general meeting was scheduled to appoint the board members. Therefore, another extraordinary general meeting should be held to appoint someone to the post.
"The CEO of the company has resigned while an EGM was called for on September 21. Therefore, another EGM should be held very soon to appoint a CEO or MD," Nazim said.
"The deadlines for holding EGMs should be shortened. The current deadline of 14 days has been extended to 21 days. The amendment will pave the way for another EGM in the near future, although the EGM is currently scheduled for September 21."
According to the proposed amendment to the law, notice of an extraordinary general meeting must be sent within seven days.
Nazim said state-owned companies should be run strongly.
For example, he said that when BML recently decided not to allow transactions in dollars with its Rufiyaa cards, the bank’s most responsible positions were not in the country.
"There is no operations director. There is no credit control manager. There is no risk manager. These are foreigners," Nazim said.
"There are no three most responsible people in Maldives who have been paid a salary of $15,000."
Nazim said:
-
A salary of $15,000 is a large amount
-
Government should try to put Maldivians in these positions
-
Maldivians should be appointed to senior and responsible positions in the bank
-
If the bank is run without the control of the people, more serious things could happen in the future
"This amendment is very important. It will be easier to resolve the issues encountered if the notice period is reduced in cases where board meetings cannot be held without the presence of the board members," Nazim said.
The purpose of the amendment bill is to make changes to the procedures required to hold an extraordinary general meeting of a company under the law.
Except for companies with only one member as provided by law, the board of directors of the company shall make arrangements for the holding of an extraordinary general meeting of each company in two cases. These include:
-
In the case of a private company, the request of not less than 10% of the voting members at a general meeting.
-
If it is a public company, at least 10% of the members entitled to vote at a general meeting should request it.
The main amendment in the 10-page bill is to allow extraordinary general meetings to be held on short notice instead of the current deadlines. They include:
-
As the law currently stands, the board of directors must convene the meeting within 21 days of receipt of the request and the meeting should be held within 3 months of receipt of the request.
-
The amendment proposes that the board of directors should convene the meeting within three days of receipt of the request and the meeting should be held within 10 days of receipt of the request.
-
The law currently requires that if it is a private company, it must send notice at least two weeks before the scheduled date of the extraordinary general meeting; Instead, the amendment shortened the period to seven days.
The next change in the law is to expedite the time for appointment of new managing directors and directors if there are not the required number of directors. They include:
-
Currently, if the registrar is brought to the attention of the absence of directors or the absence of a managing director, they must be appointed within 30 days of the notification.
-
The amendment shortens the period to 10 days.
