Islami Bank Bangladesh Plc provided Tk 1.25 crore as a sponsor of a special convocation of the Dhaka University. Professor Dr. Md. Akhtaruzzaman, Vice Chancellor of the university, received the cheque from the bank's Managing Director (Current Charge) Muhammad Qaisar Ali and Deputy Managing Director Md. Akiz Uddin on Thursday. Read : Dhaka University's IBA wins 'Battle of Minds' competition The university treasurer Professor Mamtaz Uddin Ahmed, registrar Probir Kumar Sarker and director of accounts Mohammad Shaiful Islam and Islami Bank Head of Brand and Communication Nazrul Islam were present during the occasion, said a press release. Read : Ex-Dhaka University professor Rowshan Jahan passes away

Noakhali Zone of Islami Bank Bangladesh Thursday organised the "Agent Banking Business Development Conference" and "Workshop on Prevention of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing." Mohammed Monirul Moula, managing director and chief executive officer of the bank, addressed the conference as the chief guest in Noakhali. Read: Islami Bank remittance clients to get motorcycles Md Omar Faruk Khan, additional managing director, and Mohammed Shabbir, deputy managing director, also spoke at the programme. Islami Bank is a joint venture public limited company engaged in commercial banking business based on Islamic Shariah. It is listed on the Dhaka Stock Exchange and Chittagong Stock Exchange.

Some private sector banks in Bangladesh are in deep crisis because of lack of adequate liquidity and are being forced to borrow money from state-owned Sonali Bank at a 9 percent interest rate to stay afloat. Islami Bank, Al-Arafah Islami Bank and National Bank are borrowing money from Sonali Bank at a 9 percent interest rate, which is the highest commercial lending rate at present. Economists and banking sector insiders say that it means the sector is passing through a hard time due to higher non-performing loans, lack of good governance and serious corruption in the management of the respective banks. They say at present the call money rate is between 6-7 percent while banks are borrowing at 9 percent rate, which proves the crisis has mounted in these banks. They also say the troubled banks have no other options, but to borrow money. Also read: 5 held for spreading rumors on social media about Islami Bank, S Alam group Both such borrowing and lending are very risky considering the ability of investment of these banks, they say. BRAC Bank Chairman Dr Ahsan H Mansur told UNB that some banks have lost their customers’ trust due to their mismanagement. “As a result, people have withdrawn money from those banks,” he said. Giving an example he said that the deposit of BRAC Bank increased by 33 percent in the last quarter while the deposit volumes of many banks decreased. Also read: Scam-hit Islami Bank earns operational profit in 2022, Basic Bank reports loss Usually, banks charge a higher interest rate to lend to other banks while considering it risky, he said. On 13 December 2022, the Sonali Bank’s Board of Directors approved the investment of Tk200 crore in fund placement in favour of Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited and Tk75 crore in favour of Al-Arafah Islami Bank Limited at a 9 percent lending rate for a period of 90 days. On the same day, the bank's Board also agreed to the proposal to extend the term of the Tk150 crore loans to National Bank for another six months at 9 percent interest subject to payment of the previous interest. It is a normal practice that when a bank faces a liquidity crisis it borrows from another bank via the interbank money market. Read More: 60% bank sub-branches must be outside city corporations, municipal areas: Bangladesh Bank But the liquidity situation in three private sector banks is so critical that they are forced to borrow from another bank at the highest commercial lending rate. According to the Bangladesh Bank's guidelines, banks can charge a maximum of 9 percent interest on all types of loans other than consumer loans such as auto loans and personal loans, in which case the highest lending rate ceiling is 12 percent. Professor Dr Abul Barakat told UNB that any short-term borrowing at such a rate is not harmful, but it could create trouble while getting such loans will be lingering. He said banks sometimes face a liquidity crisis, then it is required to borrow to meet the instant crisis. But a 9 percent lending rate for banks is high. Read More: Bangladesh Bank expects first instalment of $4.5 b IMF loan to arrive by next month: Spokesman “Then how much a bank would have to charge against any commercial loans,” he asked. Sector insiders say corruption and lack of good governance are the main reasons behind such a crisis. Some questioned the role and the ability of the central bank of Bangladesh to regulate commercial banks that fail to check corruption.

Detectives in a drive on Sunday arrested five people from different parts of the city, for spreading rumors on social media about the reserve crisis of Islami Bank and S Alam group. Harun-or-Rashid (DB), additional police commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP), disclosed the information when talking at a press briefing held at DMP media centre on Monday. The arrestees were identified as Mohammad Nur-un-nabi, Afsar Uddin Roman, Abu Syed Saju, Swadhin Mia and Abdus Salam. Also Read: Scam-hit Islami Bank earns operational profit in 2022, Basic Bank reports loss When briefing, Harun said the arrestees were involved in spreading rumors through social media from home and abroad. Besides, they were also involved in discouraging the expatriates from sending remittances, he said. “We have got the names of all who were involved in it and action will be taken against them soon,” he added. Former director of Islami Bank and officials were also involved in the syndicate. Also Read: Observers appointed for S Alam Group-controlled IBBL and FSIB Replying to a question, whether there is any involvement between the syndicate members or any political parties, the DMP commissioner said “We have found involvement of Jamaat-Shibir men in the group.” He also urged people not to pay any heed to the rumours as currently there is a sufficient foreign reserve. Also Read: Tk 30,000cr loan from Islami Bank: HC asks S Alam Group to explain reports Mentioning that the bankruptcy of banking sectors and financial institutions is nothing but a rumour, Harun also asked people to refrain from withdrawing money from the banks.      

Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited (IBBL) Tuesday organised a meeting of its Shariah Supervisory Committee online. Professor Mohammad Gias Uddin Talukder, chairman of the committee, presided over the meeting. Sayeed Ahmed, vice-chairman, Professor Mohammad Abdus Samad, member secretary, of the committee, and Mohammed Monirul Moula, managing director and chief executive officer of Islami Bank, attended the meeting. Read more: Islami Bank Cumilla, Noakhali hold Shariah compliance webinar Islami Bank is a joint venture public limited company engaged in commercial banking business based on Islamic Shariah. It is listed on the Dhaka Stock Exchange and Chittagong Stock Exchange.

The High Court today ordered the authorities concerned to probe into the much talked about and reported “loan scam” in three banks – Islami Bank, Social Islami Bank Ltd and First Security Islami Bank – and submit the report within next four months. The HC bench of Justice Md Nazrul Islam Talukder and Justice Khizir Hayat passed the order after issuing a Suo Motu (voluntary) rule following newspaper reports. The court directed Bangladesh Bank’s Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU), Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) and Bangladesh Police’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to submit the probe report. Read: Basic Bank loan scam: HC orders ACC to complete probe in 3 months At the same time, the court ordered the authorities of these three banks to submit the list of bank officials involved in approving loans worth thousands of crores of taka. The HC also issued a rule, asking why the inaction of the banks to take action against those responsible for approving loans worth thousands of crores and S Alam Group’s Tk 30,000 loan should not be declared illegal. The rule also asked why no instructions should be given to take action against those responsible. Read: Loan default case: 12 Pabna farmers get bail Besides, the HC bench asked S Alam Group to explain the newspaper reports that said the company took Tk 30,000 crore from Islami Bank. The court also set April 5 next year for the hearing and asked to submit the report after verifying the authenticity of the news published. Advocate Khurshid Alam Khan for ACC and Deputy Attorney General AKM Amin Uddin Manik for the state were present in the court. Read More: Loan default case: 12 Pabna farmers get bail On November 24, a report was published in the daily Prothom Alo stating that an “unscrupulous group” had taken a loan of Tk 2,000 crore from Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited (IBBL) by opening two companies with fake addresses and papers. In all, about Tk 7,000 crore loans have been approved from Islami Bank in various ways in the name of eight companies this year. The maximum amount of loan, Tk 2,460 crore, was withdrawn from November 1 to 17, according to the newspaper report. Read More: Women entrepreneurs repay loans in most cases: Commerce Minister In the same way, the companies have withdrawn Tk 2,320 crore loan from Social Islami Bank Limited (SIBL) and the First Security Islami Bank. As a result, the debt of the companies with interest to these three banks has increased to Tk 9,500 crores, it added. Meanwhile, another report published in the New Age newspaper on November 29 said that S Alam Group alone has taken loan of Tk 30,000 crore from Islami Bank. Read More: Payment of Hajj Finance Loan and DPS Instalment through Nagad

Islami Bank Bangladesh has won the Institute of Cost and Management Accountants of Bangladesh (ICMAB) Best Corporate Award 2021 in the private commercial bank (Islamic operation) category. Muhammad Qaisar Ali, additional managing director of the bank, received the award from Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi at a hotel in the capital Thursday (December 01, 2022), according to a media statement. JQM Habibullah, additional managing director and company secretary of Islami Bank, was also present. Read more: Islami Bank opens Islampur branch in Jamalpur Professor Shibli Rubayat Ul Islam, chairman of the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission, Md Jashim Uddin, president of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Md Mamunur Rashid, president of ICMAB, and Md Abdul Aziz, chairman of Corporate Award Committee of ICMAB, also joined the event. Islami Bank is a joint venture public limited company engaged in commercial banking business based on Islamic shariah. Established in 1983 as the first Islamic bank in Southeast Asia, it is listed on the Dhaka Stock Exchange and Chittagong Stock Exchange. Read More: BAT Bangladesh scoops up ‘ICMAB Best Corporate Award’ for sixth time

Islami Bank Bangladesh inaugurated its Islampur branch in Jamalpur Thursday. Md Faridul Haque Khan, state minister for religious affairs, inaugurated the 394th branch of the bank as chief guest, according to a media statement. Mohammed Monirul Moula, managing director and chief executive officer of the bank, was also present. Islami Bank is a joint venture public limited company engaged in commercial banking business based on Islamic shariah. Established in 1983 as the first Islamic bank in Southeast Asia, it is listed on the Dhaka Stock Exchange and Chittagong Stock Exchange. Read more: Islami Bank opens Bonpara branch in Natore

Mobile financial service (MFS) provider Nagad and Islami Bank Bangladesh have teamed up to help customers make seamless financial transactions – from add-money to DPS instalments to remittance transfers – through their Nagad wallets. Also, customers will be able to avail of Nagad and Nagad Islamic services using Islami Bank's CellFin app. The MFS provider and Islami Bank recently struck a partnership agreement at a city hotel. Posts and Telecommunications Minister Mustafa Jabbar, Managing Director and CEO of Islami Bank Muhammad Munirul Maula, Founder and Managing Director of Nagad Tanvir A Mishuk were present at the ceremony. Read: BCMEA to host 3-day International Ceramic Expo from Nov 24 From now on, users can add money to their Nagad and Nagad Islamic wallets instantly from their Islami Bank accounts without any charge. Also, they can pay DPS instalments to Islami Bank as well as transfer remittances to Nagad accounts. Jabbar said: "Today we are happy that an institution like Nagad has partnered with Islami Bank. Nagad's collaboration with Islami Bank has also set a good example to others." Munirul Maula said: "Nagad has onboarded 6.5 crore customers only in three and a half years. It has introduced Islamic services, which is the need of the hour." Tanvir Mishuk said: "I thank Islami Bank for beginning a journey with Nagad. Banks cannot take services to people’s doorsteps, but platforms like Nagad can do that. We want to give smart cards to our 6.5 crore customers next year." Customers will get a Tk30 mobile recharge if they make an add-money transaction of Tk3,550 to their Nagad and Nagad Islamic wallets from Islami Bank accounts. A customer will be able to enjoy this offer once. The offer will remain valid till November 30. Nagad has been expanding the scope of its "Bank to Nagad" add-money service to provide consumers with "faster and improved services." Internet banking users can instantly transfer money to their Nagad accounts without any charge. Nagad customers now can avail of the add-money service from more than 30 banks.  

Islami Bank Bangladesh inaugurated its Bonpara branch in Natore Monday. Md Abdul Quddus MP inaugurated the 392nd branch of the bank as chief guest, according to a media statement. Read: Islami Bank holds webinar on Shariah compliance Mohammed Monirul Moula, managing director and chief executive officer of the bank, was also present. Islami Bank is a joint venture public limited company engaged in commercial banking business based on Islamic shariah. Established in 1983 as the first Islamic bank in Southeast Asia, it is listed on the Dhaka Stock Exchange and Chittagong Stock Exchange.