KATHMANDU, MAY 15 Four banking and financial sector associations have urged authorities not to keep the chief executive officer of Nepal Investment Mega Bank, Jyoti Prakash Pandey, in custody while an investigation against him is underway. In a joint statement issued on Thursday, the Nepal Bankers' Association, Development Bankers' Association Nepal, Nepal Financial Institutions Association and Nepal Microfinance Bankers' Association said the probe should proceed without detaining the bank executive. The statement came a day after Nepal Police acknowledged a press release issued by the Central Investigation Bureau regarding Pandey's arrest. The associations said loan recovery is a core function and primary responsibility of a bank's CEO, and that Section 57 of the Bank and Financial Institutions Act, 2073, grants banks and financial institutions special powers to recover unpaid loans. Arresting a CEO over the exercise of that function, they argued, could damage public confidence in the banking sector and threaten institutional stability. The statement called on authorities to proceed with any necessary investigation on the principle of 'hear before you act' and to keep Pandey out of detention in the meantime. Nepal Investment Mega Bank is among the country's largest commercial banks.