Prothom Alo and the Daily Star newspapers quoted Finance Minister A.M.A. Muhith as saying most of the businesses had not been authorized by the bank’s board.

Muhith said a commission would investigate how the businesses, including renewable energy, telecommunications and garments, could be regulated.

He said the businesses do not operate in rural Bangladesh even though the main objective of Grameen Bank is to work in villages, the Daily Star reported.

A Bangladesh government-appointed investigation last year found that Grameen Bank violated its charter as a microlender by creating affiliates that did not benefit the bank’s shareholders, and recommended the government integrate those affiliates with the bank.

Yunus maintains those social businesses are independent and should remain so.

He has accused the government of attempting to interfere in Grameen Bank’s activities. The government has denied the allegation.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s administration ousted Yunus, 71, as managing director of Grameen Bank last year in a dispute over retirement age. Yunus argued he was exempt from regulations that set the retirement age at 60, but lost a court appeal.

Yunus has long had frosty relations with Hasina. She was reportedly angered by Yunus’ 2007 attempt to form his own political party backed by the powerful army when the country was under a state of emergency and Hasina herself was behind bars.

Grameen was a pioneer in issuing small loans to the poor as a way to overcome poverty, earning it and Yunus the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize. It has about 9 million borrowers, mostly women.