Saudi firm exits Islami Bank board, UAE firm enters

Saudi Arabia-based Al-Rajhi Co for Industry and Trade has withdrawn its directorship from the board of Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited, while BTA Finance Limited from the United Arab Emirates joined as a shareholder director.

As a result, Al-Rajhi Co-nominated director Yousif Abdullah Al-Rajhi has left the vice chairman position on the bank board. However, he will now serve the bank as a director, as BTA Finance nominated him to the board.

BTA Finance bought 4.95% shares of the country's largest private sector bank through the block market on the Dhaka Exchange Stock (DSE) at the beginning of this year.

Additionally, the bank has appointed Tanveer Ahmad as the vice chairman of the board. He initially joined the bank's board as a nominated director by Paradise International Limited.

This information has been confirmed by the bank's monthly shareholding statement for October this year, which is available on its website.

According to the bank's statement, Al-Rajhi Co held 9.93%, or 15.99 crore, shares, and Yousuf Abdullah Al-Rajhi had 99,935 shares in the bank.

Meanwhile, Islami Bank's former director Saudi Arabian citizen Abdullah Abdul Aziz Al-Rajhi sold his entire holdings of 12.21 crore shares in October.

As a result, the foreign holdings of the bank came down to 8.26% in October from 26.59% in September.

Earlier in September, the Islamic Development Bank (IDB), a multilateral development finance institution focused on Islamic finance, withdrew its directorship from the Islamic Bank.

As of 31 October, sponsors and directors held 35.89% shares of Islami Bank, compared to 40.88% a month ago. Local sponsors and directors held 30.93% of the bank's shares, and foreign directors held 4.95% of the shares.

Arabsas Travel and Tourist Agency, another Saudi-based company, sold its entire holding of 9.99% shares in Islami Bank through the Chittagong Stock Exchange in September.

In July, Arabsas Travel withdrew its directorship from the board of the bank. Before the withdrawal, Musaid Abdullah A Al-Rajhi served as the director of Islami Bank for a long time on behalf of the Saudi firm.

Besides, in July, Islami Bank appointed Abu Sayeed Mohammad Quasem, nominated by Armada Spinning Mills; Showkat Hossain, nominated by Kingsway Endeavors; and Jamal Mostafa Chowdhury, nominated by Uniglobe Business Resources, as shareholder directors.

The three organisations jointly hold 11.07% shares of Islami Bank.

In June, three companies withdrew their directorships from the bank. At the time, Professor Nazmul Hasan, Professor Salim Uddin, and Major General (retd) Abdul Matin were the nominee directors of these three companies on the board of the bank.

Earlier in the same month, Ahsanul Alam, son of S Alam Group Chairman Saiful Alam Masood, was appointed a shareholder director of the bank as a nominee of JMC Builders. Now, he is the chairman of the bank.

Meanwhile, in the first three quarters of this year, Islami Bank's net profit was Tk437 crore, which was slightly higher than in the previous year at the same time.