Founding directors of Social Islami Bank PLC (SIBL) have turned down government-planned merger of five struggling shariah-based lenders, including theirs, as the die is all but cast.
Terming the mergers move made by the central bank as part of its financial-sector reform recipe as 'unjust' and unacceptable, they said Monday that the interim government should not proceed further and bring back operational authority of the bank to them for its turnaround from the prevailing liquidity crunch.
The former directors of the unconventional bank made the appeal at a press conference held at the Jatiya Press Club where they criticised the ongoing merger and acquisition (M&A) move involving the bank that they had floated.
Asked how they run the liquidity-starved bank due to mounting NPL (non-performing loan) buildups, its founder-director Dr Md. Jahangir said the Bangladesh Bank must provide liquidity supports to the bank and they would be able to repay the funds later from the returns on such liquidity injections.
"I don't know why the interim government is thinking about the merger. Who gives them the responsibility? There is no jurisdiction of taking it over under government control," he said.
Former SIBL Chairman Dr Major (retd) M Rezaul Haque made an allegation that the bank was "snatched away at gunpoint" from their control by "the goons of the controversial business conglomerate S. Alam Group" during Sheikh Hasina's governing regime.
Now, the authorities of the interim government have been trying to take it under the state control again, he lamented.
"There is none having the right to take away our bank. We have already filed a writ petition with the court, and the government must wait until disposal of the petition," he told reporters.
Former SIBL Chairman Sultan Mahmood Chowdhury expressed his grave concern over existence of the once-reliable lender under their leadership.
"We are businessmen. If we cannot run this bank, how can others? This is our asset. Can the government just take away someone's house or property?" he asked.
The bank's former director Asaduzzaman, among others, also spoke at the conference.
The banking regulator has already initiated a plan for amalgamating five struggling unconventional banks-Social Islami, EXIM, First Security Islami, Union, and Global Islami-into a single large Islamic bank.
The government also gave the green signal to the merger initiative under the recently approved Bank Resolution Ordinance, a day before the press meet.
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