Business Desk :
The banks it wants to merge with are Sonali Bank, Janata Bank, Agrani Bank, Rupali Bank and Bangladesh Development Bank
The Ministry of Finance has decided to forward the merger proposal of Padma Bank to the central bank, a senior official of the ministry told Dhaka Tribune on Tuesday.
“We received such a letter several days ago,” said Rukhsana Hasin, joint secretary of the Financial Institutions Division.
“However, Bangladesh Bank will take the decision in this regard so the department that received the letter has been instructed to forward it to the central bank. But I cannot say whether the letter has reached the central bank yet,” she added.
Earlier on July 8, Padma Bank sent a letter to the Finance Ministry saying that it wants to merge with a state-owned bank.
The banks it wants to merge with are Sonali Bank, Janata Bank, Agrani Bank, Rupali Bank and Bangladesh Development Bank.
Formerly known as Farmers Bank, the institution was established in 2013.
It became a hotbed for financial irregularities in less than three years of operation as more than Tk3,500 crore was siphoned out from the bank, according to Bangladesh Bank.
Allegations of corruption against Muhiuddin Khan Alamgir and Md Mahabubul Haque Chisty, the then board chairman and chairman of the audit committee, respectively, became deafening and depositors, which included government agencies, started pulling out money.
The two were forced to resign in November 2017, and the government stepped in to rescue the bank in 2018.
The state-owned financial institution Investment Corporation of Bangladesh, Sonali Bank, Janata Bank, Agrani Bank, and Rupali Bank bought 60% stake in the bank for Tk715 crore.
The name of the bank was changed to Padma Bank in January next year in an effort to recover its image.
