BB to abolish five Islami bank boards in a historic merger

In a move to stabilise Bangladesh’s ailing Islamic banking sector, Bangladesh Bank has decided to dissolve the boards of five Sharia-compliant banks slated for merger, paving the way for the creation of a new state-owned entity: “United Islami Bank.” The decision was finalised at a high-level board meeting chaired by Governor Dr Ahsan H Mansur on Tuesday, following months of mounting pressure to address systemic corruption, governance failures, and staggering loan defaults crippling the institutions. According to a Bangladesh Bank spokesperson, the existing boards of First Security Islami Bank, Social Islami Bank, Global Islami Bank, Union Bank, and Exim Bank will be formally abolished once the merger process concludes. In their place, administrator teams of up to five members each,...