Published : 16 Aug 2026, 05:35 PM
Updated : 08 Sep 2026, 09:33 AM
The state-owned Sammilito Islami Bank PLC, formed by the merger of five flailing private Sharia-based banks, has officially started its journey.
Stating that Sammilito Islami Bank PLC will be able to operate on its own from Sunday, Bangladesh Bank has removed administrators from the two final holdouts - Global Islami Bank and Union Bank. These two banks have now merged with Sammilito Islami Bank.
Central bank spokesperson and Executive Director Arief Hossain Khan told bdnews24.com, “All five banks have been merged. All the banks are now under Sammilito Islami Bank, so they are starting their journey on their own from Sunday.”
Bangladesh Bank first removed the administrator from Exim Bank on Jul 30 after a decision the day before.
On Jul 20, the central bank’s board of directors decided that the responsibility for the Sharia-based Exim Bank, First Security Islami Bank, Global Islami Bank, Union Bank and Social Islami Bank would be transferred to the control of Sammilito Islami Bank PLC, formed during the interim government.
After that, the state-owned bank took control of all the banks one by one. On Jul 16, Abedur Rahman Sikder was appointed as the new managing director of Sammilito Islami Bank. The bank will now operate under his leadership.
Following the massive merger, Sammilito Islami Bank begins its journey with a total of 760 branches, 698 sub-branches, 511 agent banking outlets and 975 ATM booths across the country. These had previously been owned by the five separate banks.
According to the central bank, the amount of defaulted loans at the five banks by the end of March this year was nearly Tk 1.66 trillion, with a default rate of 84.22 percent.
The government has already provided capital support of Tk 200 billion to the new bank, which started its journey with authorised capital of Tk 350 billion.
Former central bank governor Ahsan H Mansur declared the shares of the five banks be written down to zero in the first week of November last year for the merger.
On the same day, the central bank appointed administrators and a team led by them to four other banks, including SIBL.
The following month, in December, the state-owned Sharia-based Sammilito Islami Bank was approved.
About nine months later, Bangladesh Bank is now implementing the removal of administrators.
The next step will be to merge the IT departments of the five banks and run banking activities under the name of Sammilito Islami Bank. Currently, the five banks are still running their activities under their own names.
