Kathmandu. Nepal Rastra Bank has postponed the process of merger and acquisition of Nabil and Nepal Bangladesh Bank (NB) for the time being. NRB has also given in-principle approval to the agreement to acquire Nabil Bank and NB Bank. However, for the final approval, the process has been postponed immediately, said a NRB source.

The Board of Directors of NRB had given final approval to the merger and acquisition process of the two banks in the first week of July and wanted to create an environment for integrated business by mid-July. However, the NRB has intervened after the board of directors of both the banks did not take care of the staff adjustment, said a source.

At present, the employees of Nabil Bank are protesting saying that they have been treated unfairly. The Nabil Bank Employees' Union (NBEU) has urged the government to address the issue in a judicial and emotional manner by automatically promoting 2 tier in the case of employees who have reached the grade limit and 1 tier in the case of others.

Similarly, the employees of Bangladesh Bank had objected that they were trying to merge the employees who had been working in the same position in the same field for a long time. When Nabil came, an informal agreement was reached to reduce three posts. It was later agreed that it would be matched only one level below.

Immediately, the employees of Nabil Bank became dissatisfied with their bank management association. The dispute between them had reached the Banking and Financial Sector Regulation Department of NRB.

In the midst of this agitation, Governor Maha Prasad Adhikari himself had a discussion with the directors and top employees of both the organizations on Wednesday. However, NRB has asked to resolve the dispute after it is not resolved. Merger blocked due to staff.