Social Islami Bank Ltd has sent a rejoinder to a report headlined “How can an ailing company bleed $ 1.6b from SIBL?” published in The Business Post on November 28 2022.
Here is the full text of the rejoinder
We would like to inform you that the Management of SIBL has noticed that your daily published a report captioned “How can an ailing company bleed $ 1.6b from SIBL?” on 28 November 2022.
We want to boldly state that the report lacks authenticity and is full of distorted information. This kind of report may spread rumors and mislead people. In order to dispel confusion regarding the report, the SIBL authority clearly states its stance on the issue.
We request you to peruse our following statement and publish this in your daily accordingly. “Sharp Knitting & Dyeing has been doing business with the Banani branch of the bank since 2015.
An investment limit was sanctioned in their favor in 2015 based on the application of the client. At present, the company's total liability along with current profit to the bank is Tk.163 crore. The client is a knit garments businessman.
Bank provided a total Tk.139.73 crore so far against 881 local back-to-back LCs for procurement of raw materials, and only Tk. Tk22.26 crore remains unrealized. The customer exported products worth Tk.144.24 crore from 2016 to 2022.
An additional project financing of Tk117.85 crore was provided. So, the issue of back-to-back LC worth $ 1.6 billion is fabricated and untrue. A case has already been filed under the NI Act as the company has not paid the dues regularly.
The process of filing the case in the Artha Rin Adalat (Money Loan Court) is underway. Moreover, the customer is in touch with the bank for payment of the dues.
Blithe Fashions Limited, another client of Mirpur branch, has a current liability of Tk.11.28 crore only and their export amount till 2018 was Tk.90.65 crore. Mentionable, factory land and factory building of both clients are mortgaged with the Bank.”
We would, therefore, appreciate your kind cooperation in publishing the above statement to restore the image of the banking industry and to dispel any kind of confusion.
Our Reply
The rejoinder ignores the fact that this particular report is fully based on the findings of the Bangladesh Bank – a well-known and highly reputed government body. The facts in our article came from official documents of the regulator.
The Financial Integrity and Customer Services Department (FICSD) of the central bank had sent two letters to the Director General of Customs Intelligence & Investigation Directorate on April 21 and June 8 this year regarding inspection reports on SIBL’s Banani and Mirpur branches.
The report “How can an ailing company bleed $1.6 billion from SIBL?” is based on two letters issued by the central bank, of which The Business Post has obtained copies.
Those letters clearly mention that the SIBL’s Banani and Mirpur branches provided the mentioned back-to-back LCs worth nearly $1.6 billion, or Tk 16,500 crore when converted to local currency.
As per the letters, the central bank inspection team had found that the SIBL had issued hundreds of back-to-back LCs to the Sharpe Knitting & Dyeing Industries and Blithe Fashion under the duty concession facility, despite those companies having no valid bonded warehouse licences.
This is a clear violation of existing regulations. We, therefore, stand by our report.
