New UCB board scraps plan of growth fund

The new board of directors of United Commercial Bank (UCB) on Thursday scrapped the three-month-old plan of a Tk 500 million investment in a close-ended mutual fund.

The previous board had made the investment plan.

The UCB was controlled by former land minister Saifuzzaman Chowdhury Javed and his family. The Bangladesh Bank dissolved the Chowdhury-led board on August 27 after the fall of the Hasina-led government in the wake of a movement waged by students against the autocratic regime.

The change in the political landscape prompted almost all ministers of the then parliament to flee out of the country.

The BB formed the new board on Tuesday.

The dissolved board was heavily dominated by Saifuzzaman's family members, including his sister Roxana Zaman Chaudhury and relatives Anisuzzaman Chowdhury and Asifuzzaman Chowdhury. Saifuzzaman's wife, Rukhmila Zaman, had been serving as chairman of the bank.

Sharif Zahir, chairman of the present board, was vice chairman of the UCB between 2013 and 2015.

The previous board was supposed to launch a growth mutual fund to be managed by CAPITEC Asset Management Limited.

According to last year's financial statement, the UCB has assets worth Tk 685 billion, out of which Tk 83 billion or 2 per cent has been invested in various non-government listed and non-listed securities.

Meanwhile, following the news of the plan being cancelled the stock of UCB rose 1 per cent to Tk 12.30 per share on the Dhaka Stock Exchange.

According to the latest financial report, the lender's six months' profit through June this year was Tk 1.27 billion. In 2023, its annual profit was Tk 2.20 billion. The UCB declared 5 per cent cash and 5 per cent stock dividends for shareholders for 2023.

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