Mysterious resignation of SIBL chairman, addl MD
The resignations of Social Islami Bank's chairman and an additional managing director on Monday have become a talking point for the banking industry.
No one could pinpoint the reasons for the hasty exits from the bank even hours after the news broke.
According to several officials of Social Islami Bank, Chairman Mahbub Ul Alam and AMD Abu Reza MD Yeahia resigned last week.
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Currently, the chairman is out of the country and the AMD has yet to go to the bank since last Sunday.
However, a deputy managing director of the bank said he could not confirm whether the chairman was resigning.
"He is out of the country as his wife is ill and his daughter also stays abroad. There is a board meeting tomorrow… let's see if they attend."
Managing Director of the bank Zafar Alam could not be reached over phone despite repeated attempts.
Chairman Mahbub Ul Alam was nominated as the bank's director by Abasan (Pvt) Ltd.
He was earlier the MD of Islami Bank Bangladesh. Abu Reza Mohammad Yahia was the DMD of Islami Bank.
In August last year, three Islamic banks gave a loan of about Tk 6,500 crore to an organisation named "Nabil Group" without sufficient documents and collateral.
Among them, Islami Bank gave the highest of Tk4,050 crore.The First Security Islami Bank gave Tk1,200 crore and Social Islami Bank gave Tk1,120 crore.
After that, the number of deposits of most Sharia-based banks started to decrease due to the emergence of loan irregularities in several institutions of Shariah-based banks.
After a change in ownership of SIBL in 2017, all previous directors were removed.
Former vice-chancellor of Chittagong University Anwarul Azim was first made the chairman of SIBL. Later, Mahbub Ul Alam became the chairman.
According to the Central Bank data, the bank's loan amount at the end of September 2022 was Tk 33,919 crore. Out of this, the defaulted loan amount was Tk1,669 crore, 5% of the total loan.
A central bank investigation found that proper norms were not followed in lending to several institutions. It concluded that Tk5,500 crore in loans was eligible for default status.
If calculated accordingly, the bank's default rate will be more than 23%.
Meanwhile, since December 15, Bangladesh Bank has asked five banks, including the SIBL, to submit daily information on the disbursement and collection of loans of more than Tk10 crore.
