Dr. Mohammad Ayub Miah named chairman of Sammilito Islami Bank

Bangladesh’s newly formed Sammilito Islami Bank, the country’s largest government-backed Islamic bank, has officially commenced operations after receiving final approval from Bangladesh Bank.

Former Secretary Dr. Mohammad Ayub Miah has been appointed as its chairman.

The bank was established through the merger of five financially distressed banks: First Security Islami Bank, Global Islami Bank, Social Islami Bank, Exim Bank, and Union Bank. Despite repeated liquidity support, these banks struggled to recover, with share prices declining sharply and most recording negative net asset values.

Bangladesh Bank has confirmed that Sammilito Islami Bank will begin full-scale operations from the first week of December.

The new bank’s paid-up capital is set at BDT 35,000 crore, of which BDT 20,000 crore comes from the government and BDT 15,000 crore from depositors’ shares. The authorized capital is fixed at BDT 40,000 crore.

The central bank granted the final license during its board meeting on November 30, following preliminary approval on November 9 at the Finance Ministry’s request.