Stock market investors under the banner of ‘Bangladesh Pujibazar Oikya Parishad’ on Thursday demanded the resignation of Finance Adviser Dr Salehuddin Ahmed and Bangladesh Bank Governor Dr Ahsan H Mansur, alleging that the recent merger of five Shariah-based banks was decided without consulting them or considering their interests.

At a protest rally in front of the former Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) building in Motijheel, the organisation’s general secretary Sajjad Hossain announced that investors would launch a movement to press for the resignation of the adviser and the governor.

“The interim government, the central bank and the finance ministry have no public mandate to merge banks. Decisions were made arbitrarily without considering the interests of ordinary investors,” Sajjad said.

He said that it should be the responsibility of the next elected government to decide whether to proceed with bank mergers. “Such forced actions are hurting investors. These cannot continue under the pretext of reform.”

The organisation’s President, Mizanur Rashid Chowdhury, said the governor did not respond despite repeatedly raising investors’ concerns with the central bank.

“No merger decision can be acceptable if it ignores investors’ interests,” he said, warning, “If the decision is not reversed, investors will stage a sit-in in front of Bangladesh Bank on Tuesday demanding the governor’s resignation.”

The investors also demanded that shareholders of the five Islamic banks—First Security Islami Bank, Global Islami Bank, Social Islami Bank (SIBL), EXIM Bank, and Union Bank—receive equivalent shares in the new merged entity.

They also demanded that the confiscated assets of the S. Alam Group be used to compensate affected investors.

The protest came a day after Bangladesh Bank dissolved the boards of the five banks, saying their shareholders’ equity had fallen below zero.

“The value of their shares is effectively zero, and no compensation will be provided to anyone,” Governor Mansur said on Wednesday.

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Earlier, the trading of shares of the five Islamic banks was suspended at both the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) and the Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) as part of the ongoing merger process.

In separate notices issued Thursday, the two bourses announced that trading in the shares of the five banks would remain suspended until further notice.

The suspension followed their being declared non-operational under Section 15 of the Bank Resolution Ordinance, 2025, which took effect on November 5.

According to the exchanges, Bangladesh Bank, in a letter issued the same day, instructed that the banks be brought under the provisions of the ordinance and subsequently dissolved their respective boards of directors.