Bangladesh Bank appoints administrator at ICB Islamic Bank

Bangladesh Bank (BB) has appointed an administrator at the crisis-hit ICB Islamic Bank to protect depositors' interests.

The central bank said its Executive Director Md Mojibur Rahman will act as administrator in the absence of the managing director at the Shariah-based bank.

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The move comes after the BB last month rejected ICB Islamic Bank's proposal of reappointing Muhammad Shafiq Bin Abdullah as the managing director, saying it had found proof of his involvement in mismanagement, money laundering and embezzlement.

The BB earlier directed the bank's board to take legal action against Abdullah. He had been heading the bank since 2013.

ICB Islamic Bank, which took shape from the ruins of Oriental Bank in 2008, has been suffering losses consistently for at least five years since 2019.

In 2023, the bank incurred a loss of Tk 56.34 crore, mainly due to a decrease in operating income, up 123 percent from Tk 25.24 crore a year ago, according to ICB Islamic Bank's Directors Report 2023.

ICB Islamic Bank's accumulated loss stood at Tk 2,005 crore at the end of 2023.

Switzerland-based ICB Financial Group Holdings AG acquired the majority shareholdings of former Oriental Bank Ltd in February 2008.