The Small and Medium Enterprise Development Bank of Thailand (SME Bank) has entered into a major organisational restructuring process after corrupt practices at provincial branches were discovered.
Many complaints about shady deals and irregularities had been filed with the bank, a number of which were later proved to be valid. As a result, at least three mid-level executives have been fired and more than 15 other executives are under investigation, said bank president Chotisak Asapaviriya.
He said most of the corrupt practices were cases of deliberately delaying approval of loans applied for by small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and then demanding bribes. These irregularities mostly occurred at the bank's provincial operations.
To improve efficiency and eradicate corruption, SME Bank's board of directors yesterday approved a major restructuring of the bank's management, which has been in place for one year.
