BB notifies lenders of merger decision: Depositors of 5 merged banks likely to get back money in a month
Business Report :
Bangladesh Bank has sent letters to five banks, First Security Islami Bank, Union Bank, Global Islami Bank, Social Islami Bank, and EXIM Bank, informing them of the merger decision under the Bank Resolution Ordinance 2025.
The letters, addressed to the chairmen of the banks on Wednesday , stated that these banks have been declared non-functional and that their operations have been brought under the resolution process.
Earlier in the yesterday morning, Bangladesh Bank Governor Ahsan H Mansur invited the chairmen and managing directors of the banks to discuss the matter.
At a press conference on the issue at the central bank yesterday evening,Bangladesh Bank Governor Ahsan H Mansur said all five banks will be run by administrators appointed by the central bank.
The governor also said depositors are likely to get access to their funds within a month.
Depositors with less than Tk2 lakh will be able to withdraw.
The payment of other depositors over Tk2 lakh and institutional depositors will be clarified later.
However, the governor discouraged depositors to withdraw money unnecessarily as the newly formed merged bank will be “very strong and owned by the government”.
Depositors will get market-based interest rates on deposits, he also said.
“Shareholders will not get compensation as net asset value against Tk10 face value became a negative maximum Tk450 of each bank,” he said.
As a result, share value is considered as zero value for both sponsor shareholders and retail shareholders.
The governor assured that employees of five banks will not lose their jobs at this time.
The bank will be run by the government but each bank will operate as a private bank until the final merger into one bank, the governor said.
According to the BB document, Md. Salah Uddin, Executive Director of the central bank, has been appointed as administrator for SIBL, while another Executive Director, Muhammad Badiuzzaman Didar, has been appointed for FSIB and Executive Director Sawkatul Alam appointed for Exim Bank.
Two directors have been appointed for the remaining banks: Mohammad Abul Hashem for Union Bank and Md Muksuduzzaman for Global Islami Bank.