Rupali Bank PLC. (Bengali: রূপালী ব্যাংক পিএলসি.) is a state owned commercial bank in Bangladesh.[1] Its headquarters is in 34 Dilkusha, Dhaka.[2] Nazmul Huda is the chairman of the bank.[3] Mohammad Jahangir is the managing director of the bank.[4]

Rupali Bank PLC.
Company typePublic Limited Company
DSERUPALIBANK
IndustryBanking
Financial services
Founded1972; 52 years ago (1972)
Headquarters,
Number of locations
586
Area served
Bangladesh & Overseas
Key people
ProductsBanking services, ATM services, Corporate Banking
Investment Banking Mobile Banking
Number of employees
6000+
Websiterupalibank.com.bd

History

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Rupali Bank Limited was constituted with the merger of 3 erstwhile commercial banks i.e. Muslim Commercial Bank Limited, Australasia Bank Limited and Standard Bank which operated in the then East Pakistan on 26 March 1972, under the Bangladesh Banks (Nationalization) Order 1972.[5]

Rupali Bank worked as a nationalized commercial bank until 13 December 1986.[5] When the Bank went public but the majority of the shares are still retained by the Government.[5] Rupali Bank Limited emerged as the largest Public Limited Banking Company of the country on 14 December 1986.[5]

Rupali Bank automated its foreign exchange services in January 1999.[6]

From 1994 to 2003, Hafiz Ibrahim, member of parliament from Bhola served as the director of Rupali Bank Limited.[7] He was re-elected to board in 2003 despite Bangladesh Bank seeking an explanation why a director had served more than 6 years in a row at the bank against its rules.[7] Rupali Bank was of the opinion as a state owned Bank that rule did not apply to them.[7] Bangladesh Bank removed him in 2005.[8] Syed Muhammad Yunus, a tube well businessman, admitted to the Anti Corruption Commission that he embezzled 240 million taka from the bank with the help of Ibrahim.[9]

Rupali Bank signed an agreement with Arif Habib Securities Limited to explore the option of starting a joint venture in Pakistan in 2004.[10] The bank's branch in Pakistan became a joint venture with Arif Habib Securities Limited in 2005.[11] It received the Bangladesh Best IT Use Award sponsored by Dutch-Bangla Bank Limited and awarded by Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services.[12] Altaf Hossain Choudhury, Minister of Commerce had handed over the award to the bank.[12]

In June 2008, Bangladesh Bank refused to handle the privatization of Rupali Bank due to the large size of the Bank.[13] A Saudi backed group had expressed interest in taking over the bank in 2006.[14][15] More than 20 companies had expressed interest in buying Rupali Bank including Abu Dhabi United Group, Alliance Bank Malaysia Berhad, AmBank, Habib Bank Limited, ICICI Bank, State Bank of India, Melewar Industrial Group Berhad, and United Bank Limited.[16]

The bank established Rupali Investment Limited as a fully owned subsidiary in 2010.[17]

In September 2015, a court in Dhaka ordered the bank to 600 thousand taka to a man runover and killed by a staff bus of the bank in 1996.[18]

In 2016, Rupali Bank's top loan defaulter was AHZ Agro.[19] 10 branches of the bank made a loss in 2016.[20] Rupali Bank had distributed 137.71 billion taka of which 15.49 billion taka was bad loans, defaulted, and 10.19 billion taka in loans were written.[20] It had a capital shortfall of 1.45 billion taka.[21]

In November 2017, Bangladesh Industrial Finance Company could not return 317.3 million taka to Rupali Bank due to fund shortages.[22] it became a shareholder of Padma Bank after the government used Rupali Bank and three other stated owned banks to injects funds into Padma Bank.[23]

The recruitment exam of the three state owned banks, Rupali, Sonali Bank Limited, and Janata Bank Limited were stayed by a High Court bench composed of Justices Moyeenul Islam Chowdhury and Justice J. B. M. Hassan in January 2018.[24]

In January 2019, Justices Md Nazrul Islam Takukder and K. M. Hafizul Alam of the High Court Division summoned S. M. Atiqur Rahman, general manager, Mohammad Ali, deputy general manager, and Md Abdus Samad Sarkar, principal officer of the bank after their names were exempted from a 150 million taka corruption case.[25] The issued the order on an appeal filed by AHM Bahauddin, managing director of Everest Holding and Technologies Limited, who had been sentenced life imprisonment in the embezzlement case.[25] In August, Md Obayed Ullah Al Masud was made managing director of Rupali Bank from Sonali Bank and Rupali Bank managing director Md. Ataur Rahman Prodhan was made managing director of Sonali Bank.[26] The Bank offered to reschedule a 11.68 billion taka loan to Mother Textile, a subsidiary of Euroasia Mattress, which defaulted in 1993.[27] The Daily Star described the offer as "outrageous".[27] Kazi Sanaul Haque was appointed the chairman of the bank.[28]

Rupali Bank gave loans to 11 companies, including Beacon Pharmaceuticals, Bashundhara Paper Mills, Mother Textile, violating rules of the bank.[29]

In 2021, Agrani Bank, Rupali, Sonali Bank Limited, and Janata Bank Limited, all state owned banks, paid the highest bonus to their employees despite poor performance and against the recommendation of Bangladesh Bank.[30] Dhaka Stock Exchange disclosed that Rupali Bank had insufficient capital to manage its risks in 2022.[31] It was part of a syndicated 5.2 billion taka loan organized by Dhaka Bank Limited for Chandpur Power Generations Limited of Doreen Group.[32] On 22 August, Mohammad Jahangir was appointed managing director of the bank.[33] Anti Corruption Commission sued the former managing director of the bank, M Farid Uddin, and nine officials of the bank and HR Spinning Mills Limited for embezzling 1.48 billion taka from the bank.[34] It was made a Critical Information Infrastructure by the government of Bangladesh under the Digital Security Act restricting access to information of the bank.[35] It is one of banks financing the gold refinery venture of Bashundhara Group.[36]

Board of directors

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Name Position Reference
Kazi Sanaul Hoq Chairman [37]
Mohammad Delwar Hossain Director [37]
Md. Shafiqul Islam Laskar Director [37]
Md. Asraf Hossain Director [37]
Rukhsana Hasin Director [37]
Mohd. Ahsan Kibria Siddiqui Director [37]
Shoaeb Ahmed Director [37]
Md. Fardous Alom Director [37]
Md. Ali Akkas Independent director [37]
Md. Rafiqul Alam Independent director [37]
Mohammad Jahangir CEO and managing director [37]
Mohammad khurshid Wahab observer from Bangladesh Bank [37]

Subsidies

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  • Rupali Bank Securities Limited[38]
  • Rupali Investment Limited[17]

References

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  1. ^ "State banks' share in remittance earnings keep falling". Dhaka Tribune. 20 September 2022. Retrieved 4 November 2022.
  2. ^ "Head Office". Rupali Bank Limited. Retrieved 4 November 2022.
  3. ^ "Rupali Bank gets new chairman". The Financial Express. 14 August 2024.
  4. ^ "Sonali, Agrani and Rupali banks get new MDs". The Business Standard. 14 August 2022. Retrieved 4 November 2022.
  5. ^ a b c d "Rupali Bank Limited". Banglapedia. Retrieved 24 May 2016.
  6. ^ "Rupali Bank computerises forex branch". The Daily Star. 7 January 1999. Retrieved 4 November 2022.
  7. ^ a b c "Rupali Bank directors rally behind Ibrahim". The Daily Star. Retrieved 4 November 2022.
  8. ^ "Hafiz Ibrahim loses Rupali Bank directorship". The Daily Star. Retrieved 4 November 2022.
  9. ^ "Credits granted under influence of Ex-BNP MP Hafiz Ibrahim". The Daily Star. 2 January 2008. Retrieved 4 November 2022.
  10. ^ "Rupali Bank all set to launch jt venture bank in Pakistan". The Daily Star. Retrieved 4 November 2022.
  11. ^ "Rupali Bank's Karachi branch now Pak-Bangla jt venture bank". The Daily Star. Retrieved 4 November 2022.
  12. ^ a b "12 business houses get Best IT Use Award". The Daily Star. Retrieved 4 November 2022.
  13. ^ Rahman, Sajjadur (19 June 2008). "BB declines to take over Rupali Bank privatisation". The Daily Star. Retrieved 4 November 2022.
  14. ^ "No job cuts after purchase of Rupali Bank, say Saudis". The Daily Star. Retrieved 4 November 2022.
  15. ^ "Saudi prince keen to invest $5-6b". The Daily Star. Retrieved 4 November 2022.
  16. ^ Byron, Rejaul Karim. "'Road show' today in KL to woo potential buyers of Rupali Bank". The Daily Star. Retrieved 4 November 2022.
  17. ^ a b "Rupali Investment LTD". Retrieved 4 November 2022.
  18. ^ "Road crash victim's family wins compensation". The Daily Star. 22 September 2015. Retrieved 4 November 2022.
  19. ^ "Four banks hostage to top loan defaulters". Prothom Alo. 10 May 2016. Archived from the original on 20 March 2017. Retrieved 28 July 2016.
  20. ^ a b Sakib, Sanaullah (9 May 2016). "State banks run on tax money". Prothom Alo. Archived from the original on 12 October 2016. Retrieved 28 July 2016.
  21. ^ Kallol, Asif Showkat (7 April 2016). "State banks to get Tk3,000cr less to meet capital shortfall". Dhaka Tribune. Archived from the original on 16 April 2016. Retrieved 28 July 2016.
  22. ^ Uddin, AKM Zamir (30 November 2017). "Now BIFC faces liquidity crunch". The Daily Star. Retrieved 4 November 2022.
  23. ^ "Padma Bank seeks to merge with state bank". The Daily Star. 1 September 2021. Retrieved 4 November 2022.
  24. ^ "Sonali, Rupali, Janata banks' recruitment exams stayed". The Daily Star. 7 January 2018. Retrieved 4 November 2022.
  25. ^ a b "Three Rupali Bank high-ups summoned". The Daily Star. 30 January 2019. Retrieved 4 November 2022.
  26. ^ "MDs of Sonali Bank, Rupali Bank swapped". The Daily Star. 20 August 2019. Retrieved 4 November 2022.
  27. ^ a b Uddin, AKM Zamir (5 October 2019). "Outrageous offer for a defaulter". The Daily Star. Retrieved 4 November 2022.
  28. ^ "Sanaul joins Rupali Bank as chairman". New Age. Retrieved 4 November 2022.
  29. ^ "Rupali Bank lends Tk 350cr ignoring banking norms". Dhaka Tribune. 22 December 2020. Retrieved 4 November 2022.
  30. ^ Uddin, AKM Zamir (26 July 2021). "Hefty incentives for state bank employees". The Daily Star. Retrieved 4 November 2022.
  31. ^ "Rupali Bank has insufficient capital to manage risks". The Daily Star. 10 May 2022. Retrieved 4 November 2022.
  32. ^ "Dhaka Bank arranges Tk 520 crore for Chandpur Power". The Daily Star. 19 January 2022. Retrieved 4 November 2022.
  33. ^ "Mohammad Jahangir appointed new MD of Rupali Bank". The Business Standard. 28 August 2022. Retrieved 4 November 2022.
  34. ^ "ACC okays charge sheet against ex-Rupali Bank MD, 9 others". New Age. Retrieved 4 November 2022.
  35. ^ "29 public orgs named Critical Information Infrastructure". New Age. Retrieved 4 November 2022.
  36. ^ "6 banks move to finance Bashundhara Gold Refinery". New Age. Retrieved 4 November 2022.
  37. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "Board of Directors". Rupali Bank Limited. Retrieved 4 November 2022.
  38. ^ "Rupali Bank Securities Limited". www.rbsl.com.bd. Retrieved 4 November 2022.
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