Shareholders urge BB not to merge SIBL

Social Islami Bank's (SIBL) founding shareholders have urged the central bank and the Ministry of Finance not to involve the bank in any merger with other ailing banks.

Major (retd) Md Rezaul Haque, a founding shareholder and current director of the bank, along with nine other shareholders, sent a letter on Tuesday to the Bangladesh Bank governor and the Finance Division secretary.

"We are the founding shareholders and a significant number of general shareholders of Social Islami Bank PLC. Most of us entrepreneurs were involved with the bank's management from its inception in 1995 until 2017, when the bank was forcibly taken over by S Alam using state intelligence agencies," the letter reads.

The shareholders alleged that after the fall of the previous government, although the board was restructured, only one sponsor director and four independent directors were included, leaving several eligible founding members excluded. They termed it an "ineffective decision" for rescuing the fragile bank.

They further said that without consultation with genuine entrepreneurs and shareholders, Bangladesh Bank officials have moved to merge the bank with several ailing Islamic banks linked to S Alam. Such steps, they argued, are "unjust, unethical, and unlawful," eroding depositors' confidence.

The letter also alleged that the central bank is trying to cover up its past failures by pushing SIBL into mergers that will ultimately harm depositors and investors.

Instead, the shareholders requested the Bangladesh Bank to engage in discussions with genuine investors and, if necessary, induct new shareholders to revive the bank.