Belal Ahmed made acting chairman of SIBL

The resignation letters of Social Islami Bank Ltd (SIBL) Chairman Md Mahbub ul Alam and Additional Managing Director (Addl MD) Abu Reza Md Yeahia have been accepted by the bank’s Board of Directors.

The board also made Vice-Chairman Belal Ahmed the acting chairman of the Shariah-based bank.

Belal is the son-in-law of the owner of S Alam Group, a Chattogram-based business conglomerate which holds the majority of the bank’s shares.

The board took the decisions at its 492nd meeting on Tuesday, SIBL MD Zafar Alam told the Business Post. He also stated that Mahbub and Yeahia stepped down due to personal reasons.

Mahbub and Yeahia resigned from the private commercial bank last Thursday. After submitting their resignation letters, both of them left the country, according to the bank’s officials.

Zafar claimed Mahbub left the country since all of his family members currently live abroad.

In a statement earlier, the bank had said that the duo resigned from their posts due to personal and family problems.

Mahbub and Yeahia previously served as the MD and Additional MD, respectively, at the Islami Bank Bangladesh Ltd (IBBL) — which recently faced controversy and criticism due to massive loan irregularities.

Before joining SIBL as chairman, Mahbub also served at the First Security Islami Bank Ltd (FSIBL) as an adviser for about a year.

Recently, IBBL, FSIBL and SIBL faced massive criticism after all three Shariah-based lenders approved huge amounts of loans to Nabil Group violating banking rules and regulations.

On May 30 last year, SIBL — at its 481st board meeting — approved Tk 1,120 crore (both funded and non-funded) in loans to Nabil Feed Mills Ltd, Nabil Naba Foods Ltd and their associate companies.

A Bangladesh Bank observation report later mentioned that SIBL had eased its regulations and conditions for approving loans to businesses under the Nabil Group, and termed the loans risky.

The lender had lowered LC commission and provided relief from depositing collateral and personal guarantee, said the report.