Amman, April 4 (Petra) –– The Lower House on Monday passed legislation abolishing the National Microfinance Bank law during a session chaired by Speaker Abdul Karim Dughmi and attended by cabinet members.

The lawmakers agreed to abolish the bank, but kept it as a registered private joint-stock company that will continue its work under the Companies' Law and the umbrella of the Central Bank, considering it the legal corporate successor of the bank.

The law aims to remove the distortions in the microfinance sector and unify its legal and regulatory framework, according to the mandating reasons for the draft law.

The National Bank for Microfinance, which was established in 2003 through a partnership between the King Abdullah II Fund for Development, the Arab Gulf Programme for United Nations Development Organizations (AGFUND) and shareholders from the private sector, was registered with the Ministry of Industry and Trade, as a private joint stock company.

During today's session, the legislature referred to its legal committee draft amendments to the laws on Criminal Procedure, Officers' Service in the Armed Forces, and the Constitutional Court.