UNB Dhaka :
Bangladesh Bank is likely to approve share ownership of star cricketer Shakib Al Hasan and his mother Shirin Akhtar in the proposed People’s Bank in the upcoming meeting of its board of governors.
People’s Bank failed to qualify for the final licence even three years after issuing consent from Bangladesh Bank, which is going to take in Shakib and his mother in the bank.
At the meeting of the board of governors on Thursday, the central bank is expected to raise an application for further extension of People’s Bank’s LOI (letter of intent) along with approval of Shakib and his mother’s sponsorship in the bank.
Under the chairmanship of Governor Fazle Kabir, the meeting is likely to approve both the applications to pave the journey of another bank in the country with the blessing of Shakib, sources said.
The letter of intent expired in December last year after several extensions. The bank has now applied for an extension of the LOI by adding cricketer Shakib and his mother.
“The bank is now ready to start operations,” said Abul Kashem, a New York-based Bangladeshi expatriate and chairman of the proposed bank.
“We have made all kinds of preparations. After submitting all the documents as per the requirements of Bangladesh Bank, we are ready to supplement more info,” he told UNB.
People’s Bank could not start operations due to lack of arrangement of paid-up capital of Tk 500 crore. Consequently, the bank did not get the final licence of Bangladesh Bank.
Bangladesh cricket’s poster boy is going to own two director posts of People’s Bank, which is waiting to finally get the final licence from the central bank.
According to the rules of Bangladesh Bank, an aspiring director of a bank must hold a minimum of 2 per cent share. So, a minimum capital of Tk 10 crore has to be provided for each post of director for the People’s Bank.
However, it was found that Shakib is providing more than Tk 25 crore worth of capital to obtain the fractional ownership of 4 per cent or more.
On February 17, 2019, Bangladesh Bank issued letters of intent to three new banks – People’s Bank, Bengal Commercial Bank, and Citizen Bank.
Of the three, Bengal and Citizen banks have already started their operations. But People’s Bank failed to meet the regulatory requirements, including paid-up capital, and prayed for more time.
