Social Islami Bank PLC (SIBL) is making a swift recovery from years of alleged mismanagement and recovered about Tk聽794 crore in loans in the past couple of months, according to the bank鈥檚 new chairman, M Sadiqul Islam.
He made the comment at a press conference held at the bank鈥檚 head office in the capital Dhaka on the day.
Sadiqul, who became chairman of the bank in late August following the restructuring of the board by the Bangladesh Bank, said that the new board and the management were actively addressing the irregularities that plagued the bank under its previous leadership.
He assured that SIBL was on a solid path to recovery, stating, 鈥楾he bank will recover soon, and depositors will regain confidence in placing their money with us.鈥�
Sadiqul also mentioned that the bank was probing irregularities in employee appointments.
SIBL plans to appoint an external auditor to thoroughly investigate all anomalies since October 2017, when S Alam Group forcefully took over the bank, he said.
Businessman S Alam was one of the closest allies of Sheikh Hasina during her tenure.
The Awami League regime fell on August 5 amid a student-led mass uprising against the regime鈥檚 authoritarian rule, they said.
S Alam Group extracted up to Tk聽7,000 crore in loans, but all of them were identified and deemed regular, Sadiqul said.
Additionally, Tk聽200 crore in fixed deposits from companies connected to S Alam Group has been confiscated, he said.
The group held 47 per cent shares 鈥� in name and anonymously 鈥� in SIBL.
According to acting managing director Mohammad Forkanullah, the bank鈥檚 liquidity crisis, largely driven by a collapse in depositor confidence, was exacerbated by widespread reports of irregularities at other banks controlled by S Alam Group.
Despite the challenges, Forkanullah emphasised that the bank was on a path to recovery.
SIBL made a loss of around Tk聽124 crore in January to June due to forced dollar sales imposed by the central bank, part of a controversial effort to artificially bolster foreign exchange reserves during the Awami League regime, SIBL officials said.
They explained that the central bank compelled SIBL to sell dollars to state-run banks 鈥� Sonali, Agrani and Janata 鈥� at prices significantly lower than what the bank had paid to remitters.
This forced sales, with each dollar sold at Tk聽15-20 less than the purchase price, resulted in massive losses, they said.
Over $400 million were sold in these transactions, causing the bank to lose about Tk 124 crore, he said.
The irregularities occurred between January and June, with bank officials alleging the involvement of S Alam Group and former BB governor Abdur Rouf Talukder, they claimed.
Bank officials also criticised the central bank for not taking early action.
In November 2022, when SIBL鈥檚 current account with the Bangladesh Bank turned negative 鈥� a rare and alarming occurrence, but the regulator failed to intervene, raising questions about its oversight.