Islami Bank is not operating in Islamic way: Ibrahim Khaled

Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited speaks about Islamic banking, but it does not act in that way, former Bangladesh Bank deputy governor Khondkar Ibrahim Khaled has said.

In his view, the private bank is not following Islamic banking rules of keeping customers as partners of profit or loss.

He also alleges that remittances are dropping due to 'dishonest' mobile banking abroad.

Pointing to Abu Hena Mohd Razee Hassan, a deputy governor of the central bank, at a seminar in Dhaka on Thursday, Ibrahim Khaled said the 'tough work' to bring about changes in the activities of the Islami Bank was under way.

"He (Abu Hena) is also on the board. I'll tell you one thing. They have a very tough job in hand," he said. 

Ibrahim Khaled, who is also the chair professor of Bangladesh Institute of Bank Management (BIBM), added that it would be 'possible to save' the bank if the job of bringing about changes in its operations were finished with patience.

"Though the Islami Bank claims to operate Islamic banking, it actually doesn't do so. They term it Musharaka and Mudaraba, but it's not that. It's not Islamic banking.

"What they are doing is actually alternative banking. They are not doing Islamic banking," he said.

Ibrahim Khaled said the customers will get share of profit or loss in Islamic banking. "But now they are not getting the share of profit. You (Islami Bank) are giving half from the 50 percent profit or some other thing happens."

He also alleged that there were 'dishonest acts' abroad over mobile banking. 

"Remittances are dropping because money is being sent through illegal channels in the name of bKash from the Middle-East, including the United Arab Emirates," he said.

He said he noted in Singapore during a recent visit that thousands of dollars were being remitted through a shop bearing the signboard 'Mostafa Centre' there.

He advised the Bangladesh Bank to open a new wing to research mobile banking in order to stop transactions outside banking channels.

In a research paper published at the seminar, it was said that a large section of the customers of Bangladesh's banks did not have clear ideas about the sector.

According to the paper, 98 percent of customers have no idea about insurance and 47 percent about financial statements. But 52 percent depositors think it will be very risky if the banks’ financial condition worsens.

BIBM Director General Toufic Ahmad Choudhury chaired the seminar. Its chair professor SA Chowdhury was also present.