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#Bangladesh-based Social Islami Bank (SIBL) is set to invest $2 million in a real estate-focused private equity fund managed by the Islamic Development Bank. The fund is called the Awqaf Properties Investment Fund (APIF) and aims to invest in Awqaf real estate property that is socially, economically and financially viable in member countries of the IDB. SIBL's managing director, Amm Farhad, said the bank was investing in the project not for commercial reasons but for social welfare. In Bangladesh, APIF will start off with the construction of two towers, a multipurpose building and a university in Chittagong, with a total investment of $100 million. The bank will represent Bangladesh in the managerial committee of APIF, which has 8 IDB member countries in the board: Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Egypt, Iran, Bahrain, Jordan, Palestine and Malaysia.

Mohammed Younus, a director of Shahjalal Islami Bank, gave a newspaper advertisement to sell his holding in the bank violating securities laws. Directors of listed companies must give announcement on the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) website if they want to sell their shares, but Younus did not make any such announcement. The board of the bank felt embarrassment about the issue as the director has not informed it about his planned sale of shares. The bank's executive director Subhankar Saha said this type of advertisement was undesirable. The current market price of 2 percent shares of Shahjalal Islami Bank is about Tk 26 crore.

Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith said that the board of directors of Islami Bank Bangladesh has been engaged in an internal row. The row is over the appointment of new staff, that Islami Bank Vice-chairman Professor Ahsanul Alam claims were made on paying bribes. Due to the row between him and chairman Arastoo Khan, two groups in the board have also been created with the 21 directors supporting either Arastoo or Ahsanul, and each group calling the other a liar. In a statement released on May 20, nine directors threatened to resign from their posts. Professor Ahsanul Alam has claimed that three directors who are abroad have also opted in support of this statement.

The Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with City Bank Bangladesh in order to strengthen their collaboration. The signing ceremony was held at the 42nd Annual Meeting of the IDB Group in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The MOU was signed by the CEO of ICD, Mr Khaled Al Aboodi and Mr Sheikh Mohammed Maroof, Deputy Managing Director and Mr Mohammad Mahbubur Rahman, Chief Financial Officer of City Bank. The collaboration will encompass the areas of Term Finance, Public Private Partnership transactions, Lines of Finance and other areas. The signing ceremony was also attended by Mr Farid Masmoudi, Director of ICD, Mr Mahbub Jamil, Head of Structured Finance of City Bank and other high officials of both institutions.

Islami Bank Bangladesh has removed the head of its human resource division amid a war between the old guard belonging to Jamaat-e-Islami and newly-appointed executives. The removed executive, Md Mahboob Alam, is also an executive vice president of the bank. The bank's board of directors took the decision to remove him from the division on Saturday. The new leadership of the bank are fighting for control of the bank with Jamaat supporters after taking charge five months ago. Vice-Chairman Professor Syed Ahsanul Alam Parvez said Mahboob was removed from the human resource division because he was appointing Jamaat loyalists to top posts of the bank. Another director, Professor Dr Qazi Shahidul said that Jamaat supporters were conspiring in various ways because they plan to take back control of the bank after changes through the next election.

On the 5th of January military intelligence operatives phoned the chairman, a vice-chairman and the managing director of Islami Bank Bangladesh and brought them to the agency’s headquarters in Dhaka. A few hours later the bank’s board selected their replacements. Islami Bank has been of interest to the government for its association with the Jamaat-e-Islami, Bangladesh’s biggest Islamist party. In recent months, companies with ties to S Alam Group have built stakes in the bank, although the group denies any role in this. The new chairman, Arastoo Khan, declined to comment on the changes at the bank. The shareholders from Saudi Arabia and Kuwait were kept in the dark about the boardroom coup and complained bitterly about it. The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) questioned the rationale behind the changes and pointed out that there was no proper recruitment process. The Bangladeshi government has assured foreign shareholders that it will not let politicians loot the bank.

Shahid Hossain joined Social Islami Bank (SIBL) as chief executive officer. The bank also promoted Tarik Morshed as its additional managing director. Prior to joining SIBL, Hossain had been serving Southeast Bank as managing director. He started his banking career as a probationary officer with National Bank in 1983. He completed his MSS in political science from Dhaka University in 1980. Prior to the promotion, Tarik Morshed had been serving SIBL as deputy managing director. He has been with SIBL since its inception in 1995 and holds a master's degree in management from Rajshahi University.

According to Bangladesh Bank's former deputy governor Khondkar Ibrahim Khaled, Islami Bank Bangladesh speaks about Islamic banking, but it does not act in that way. 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. The statements were made at a seminar in Dhaka where several professors of Bangladesh Institute of Bank Management (BIBM) were present. Khaled said that remittances were dropping because money is being sent through illegal channels in the name of bKash. 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.

Finance Minister Ama Muhith has sought explanation from Bangladesh Bank about allegations of foreign investors of Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited (IBBL). The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) alleged that the IBBL board made the recent high-level changes in the absence and without consent of foreign shareholders. Two foreign investors including IDB hold 52% shares of the IBBL. At the board meeting January 5, former bureaucrat Arastoo Khan was elected chairman of IBBL. Changes were also brought to the posts of managing director and heads of various committees of the bank and also to chief of the Islami Bank Foundation. At present, of the 16 board of directors, seven are independent directors, seven from little known companies and two are foreign sponsors’ representatives.

The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) expressed dismay at the recent changes that took place at Islami Bank Bangladesh (IBBL). In a letter to Finance Minister Ama Muhith, IDB said the foreign shareholders feel that the governance of the bank has been taken away from them, although they own more than 52% of the shares, while IDB has a 7.5%. The IDB also criticised the way a board meeting at IBBL is convened. Furthermore, the IDB voiced its concern about the recent changes, about appointing the new managing director in an abrupt manner, not following the rigorous recruitment process. As a response to IDB's letter, Islami Bank said in a statement that all banking rules have been followed properly.

Islami Bank Bangladesh has undergone abrupt, major changes in its three top positions - chairman, vice chairman and managing director. Arastoo Khan, the former chairman of Commerce Bank has now become chairman of Islami Bank, replacing incumbent Mustafa Anowar. As a representative of Ibn Sina run by Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami leaders, Mustafa Anowar was serving as the chairman of the bank. He also resigned from the post of director as well as from the post in the bank’s foundation. The board of directors also replaced the bank’s managing director (MD) Mohammad Abdul Mannan by Union Bank’s MD Abdul Hamid Mia. Islami Bank Bangladesh has 307 branches including 57 AD branches and three offshore banking units as well as 13,229 staff members, as of December 2015.

The board of directors of Shahjalal Islami Bank has approved for issuance of Mudaraba Subordinated Bond worth Tk 4.0 billion. The new issuance is part of a process of inclusion in Tier-II Capital for a period of 7 years through private placement. The bond issue is subject to approval of the regulatory authorities – Bangladesh Bank, Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission. The bank’s paid-up capital is Tk 7,346.88 million and authorised capital is Tk 10,000 million, while total number of securities is 734,688,133.

Islami Bank is the largest and most profitable bank in Bangladesh. It has 10.7 million depositors, 27% of Bangladeshi remittances and 23% of the small and medium enterprises market. While most of the 56 banks in the country are plagued by rising nonperforming loans, poor management and operational inefficiency, Islami Bank isn’t. The bank has a rigorous recruitment and training process and the churn at the company is low. Despite its success, the bank has been dogged in recent years by suspicion that it has been used by Islamic terrorists. CEO Mohammad Abdul Mannan is cognizant of the image problem. No wrongdoing has been proven, but Islami Bank seems to be attending to image cleanup.

The 15th Annual General Meeting (AGM) and 12th Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) of Shahjalal Islami Bank was held on the 26th of June 2016 in Dhaka. The meeting approved 13% cash dividend for the shareholders for the year 2015. The chairman of the bank, A. K. Azad said the entire index of the bank, including deposit, investment and profit are in a stable position even prevailing severe competition in the banking sector. The program was conducted by Md. Abul Bashar, VP and company secretary of the bank.

Mohammad Abdul Mannan has been reappointed as the chief executive officer of Islami Bank Bangladesh for a third term. Mannan recently received 'The Asian Banker CEO Leadership Achievement Award-2016' and the bank was judged as 'The Best Managed Bank in Bangladesh' for the same year.

Bangladesh Bank did not allow Al-Arafah Islami Bank to sell 10% of its shares to the Islamic Development Bank (IDB). The deal was originally signed in March to invest about Tk 155 crore to acquire a 10% stake in Al-Arafah. Al-Arafah was supposed to issue around 11 crore fresh shares worth Tk 10 each with a premium of Tk 4, in a bid to raise its capital. The board of Al-Arafah is divided over the issue of selling a 10% stake, particularly on the issue of giving veto power to IDB. The aggrieved group had also taken the issue to court opposing the veto power.

In Bangladesh Abdus Samad has been elected as the chairman and Mohammed Abdus Salam as the vice chairman of Al-Arafah Islami Bank. Samad is one of the founder directors of the bank, and vice chairman of S Alam Group. Salam is a sponsor shareholder and ex-chairman of Al-Arafah Islami Bank, and the current managing director of Mir Group.

Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited had five independent directors, of whom four have been dismissed in the last few months. These men are: NRM Borhan Uddin, AKM Sadrul Islam, Md Belayet Hossain and Md Abdus Salam. The bank’s board of directors refrained from renewing the tenures of these four because of government directives. Banking industry analysts believe the government’s directive is part of its plan to appoint four directors of its own choice. They believe the government is taking control of Islami Bank through several major changes including the board of directors. Last week freedom fighter engineer Mostafa Anwar replaced Abu Nasser Muhammad Abduz Zaher as the chairman.

The Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD) has announced investment of about Tk 155 crore to acquire 10 percent stakes in Bangladesh's Al-Arafah Islami Bank. Al-Arafah Islami Bank will issue around 11 crore fresh shares of Tk 10 each with Tk 4 as premium to the ICD. Khaled Al Aboodi, chief executive officer of the ICD, and Badiur Rahman, chairman of Al-Arafah Islami Bank, inked the agreement on behalf of their respective organisations. The investment is, however, subject to shareholder consent and regulatory approvals from the central bank, the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission and other relevant authorities.

The FBI has agreed to help Bangladesh investigate an audacious $81 million theft from the nation's foreign reserves, authorities said Sunday, days after the finance minister accused central bank officials of complicity in the heist. A FBI official in Dhaka met with representatives from Bangladesh's Criminal Investigation Department and offered to assist with the investigation into the spectacular cross-country theft. Hackers stole the money from the Bangladesh Bank's account with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York on February 5 and managed to transfer it electronically to accounts in the Philippines. Investigators say local hackers were likely involved in the theft.