Why Shahjalal Islami Bank's former chairman sold half stake

Shahjalal Islami Bank's former Chairman Akkas Uddin Mollah sold 2.17 crore shares of the bank, almost half of his stake, on Monday through the block market of the Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE).

"I am not leaving the bank at all. Instead, half of my stake was transferred to a company owned by my family," Mollah, a reputed apparel entrepreneur, told TBS.

He, however, did not mention any plan behind the transfer of his half stake at the bank. Instead, he said, "Unlike our generation who handle things as individual businessmen, our next generation prefers corporate structures. If I want to hand over the baton of my businesses, it should be in their preferred way."

Analysts, however, believe the entrepreneur paved the way for two board seats, instead of one, for his family through splitting the shareholding.

Following the transfer, both his company and himself have had the qualifying stake for a board seat as the securities regulator made it mandatory for a shareholder or nominated director to hold at least 2% of the company shares.

On Monday, Shahjalal Islami Bank's shares closed at the floor price of Tk18.3 each at the Dhaka Stock Exchange.