The court has mandated the seizure of Exim Bank’s head office in relation to Bank Asia’s defaulted loan amounting to approximately 389 crore taka. This directive was issued by Judge Mujahidur Rahman of Dhaka’s Financial Debt Court No. 5 on Monday, August 4.

As per the case details, Exim Bank borrowed 388 crore 95 lakh 26 thousand 944 taka from Bank Asia a year ago due to a liquidity crisis. Despite the loan term having expired, Exim Bank has failed to repay the amount. Consequently, Bank Asia initiated legal proceedings in Dhaka’s Financial Debt Court-5 to recover the outstanding loan.

The order states that the plaintiff informed the court that none of Exim Bank’s assets are available to cover the defaulted loan. Nevertheless, the head office of Exim Bank is situated on that property. Given Exim Bank’s precarious financial situation, Bangladesh Bank has recently proposed a merger with other banks. Thus, if the head office property is not seized, the recovery of the substantial defaulted loans owed to Bank Asia will be jeopardized.

After considering the case and examining the documents, the judge instructed Exim Bank to provide justification within 15 days as to why the head office should not be seized. Simultaneously, the court has ordered the temporary seizure of the bank’s head office until the court receives a response or objections are raised. Exim Bank is expected to submit its response by August 21.