B Mirror Report : During the merger process, the five banks’ current, savings, and fixed deposits, as well as their movable and immovable assets, liabilities, and all existing contracts, were transferred to the newly established United Islamic Bank.
As a result, customers’ deposits will remain fully safe. Customers will also be allowed to withdraw deposits of up to Tk 200,000. Those who do not withdraw their deposits immediately will receive market-based profits and, if necessary, will be able to take loans against their deposits.
Bangladesh Bank issued a notification in this regard on Tuesday (December 30).
According to Bangladesh Bank, all current, savings, and fixed deposits of the five banks have now come under United Islamic Bank. Fixed deposits cannot be withdrawn before maturity. However, depositors will be able to avail loans or investment facilities of up to 20 percent against their existing deposits. For newly deposited funds, loans or investment facilities of up to 80 percent will be available.
In addition, officers and employees of the five banks who are not facing any allegations or legal cases will automatically become officers and employees of United Islamic Bank.
With Bangladesh Bank’s approval, the board of directors of the new bank will be able to revise employment terms if necessary. However, anyone who expresses in writing an intention not to continue employment will be allowed to resign.
Under the Bank Resolution Act–2025, Bangladesh Bank stated that from the effective date of the resolution scheme until any new directive is issued by Bangladesh Bank or any authorized authority, all banking documents issued in the name of the transferred banks will remain valid. This means that cheque books, deposit slips, withdrawal slips, vouchers, forms, receipts, application forms, and all other banking documents printed or used under the old banks’ names will now be considered approved and valid documents of the acquiring bank.
In simple terms, customers will not need to obtain or replace any documents for now; regular banking activities can continue using the old banks’ documents.
Bangladesh Bank said that under the new management, customers’ deposits will remain fully safe and transactions will continue as usual. This resolution process is a major reform initiative aimed at restoring confidence in the banking sector.
Risk management and good governance will be strengthened in the new bank to ensure transparency and accountability. These reform measures are being implemented under the direct supervision of the central bank. The regulator hopes this will restore depositor confidence and make the overall financial sector more stable.
United Islamic Bank has an authorized capital of Tk 400 billion, of which Tk 350 billion is paid-up capital. Out of the paid-up capital, the government has provided Tk 200 billion.
The remaining Tk 150 billion will be converted into capital through the issuance of shares against fixed deposits of banks and financial institutions and other institutional deposits. However, educational institutions, religious institutions, hospitals, provident funds, joint ventures, multinational companies, and foreign embassies will be excluded from this provision.
During the tenure of the previous Awami League government, several influential groups fraudulently withdrew huge amounts of loans from more than a dozen banks. Due to these irregularities and loan scandals, many banks gradually fell into deep crisis. Among them, five Shariah-based Islamic banks became severely distressed. These banks are Exim Bank, Social Islami Bank, First Security Islami Bank, Global Islami Bank, and Union Bank.
Due to weak governance, irregularities, and fraud, these banks suffered significant financial losses. Although Bangladesh Bank provided liquidity support to these banks for more than a year, the situation did not improve as expected.
As a result, to protect depositors’ interests and ensure financial stability, administrators were appointed to these banks on November 5 under the Bank Resolution Ordinance–2025. Later, the five banks were merged to form United Islamic Bank.
According to Bangladesh Bank data, the five banks currently hold deposits of around Tk 1.42 trillion from approximately 7.5 million depositors. In contrast, total loans stand at Tk 1.93 trillion, a large portion of which has already become non-performing.
Across the country, these banks have 760 branches, 698 sub-branches, 511 agent banking outlets, and 975 ATM booths. After the merger, multiple branches in the same area will be consolidated into one or two. To reduce operating costs, employee salaries and benefits have already been cut by 20 percent.
