Bangladesh, Aug. 21 -- Bangladesh Bank (BB) has opened the door for private professional institutions to mediate disputes over defaulted loans, seeking to speed up loan recovery and reduce the growing number of cases pending before the courts.

The central bank on Thursday issued guidelines establishing a formal framework for selecting and regulating institutions that will mediate default-loan disputes involving banks and finance companies.

The guidelines took effect immediately.

The BB had earlier issued instructions allowing disputes over defaulted loans and related cases to be settled through ADR (Alternative Dispute Resolution).

The latest guidelines go a step further by establishing specific eligibility, capacity and suitability ...