Bangladesh has ordered a probe into Grameen Bank and the 54 businesses associated with the microfinace institution founded by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus.

The country's finance ministry on Wednesday set up a commission that is tasked with determining how Grameen and its affiliated companies should be regulated.

The move comes less than two weeks after U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met with Yunus during a visit to Bangladesh and urged the government not to do anything that might undermine the effectiveness of Grameen Bank.

The government dismissed 70-year-old Yunus as the microlender's managing director last March for staying past the retirement age of 60, but his supporters believe he was targeted for trying to launch his own political party in 2007.

Yunus was also cleared of allegations of misappropriation of funds and other financial irregularities.

Yunus won the Nobel Prize in 2006. His concept of microfinance is credited with helping millions of poor people in Bangladesh and other parts of the world.