Islami Bank Bangladesh Ltd has no relation with terror financing, its
Chairman Prof Abu Nasser Muhammad Abduz Zaher said yesterday.
“Our regulator may ban our banking activities if it finds any of our transactions are related to terror financing,” he said.
“Islami Bank does not belong to any political party and is a bank of 16
million people, he continued, “Over the last few months, our deposit
accounts and deposits have been increasing thanks to our clients’
trust.”
He also said the bank was not against Bangladesh and its flag.
Prof Zaher was speaking at the bank’s 30th anniversary ceremony of banking services at Ruposhi Bangla Hotel in the capital.
Islami Bank started its journey in 1983 with 70 percent stake belonging
to foreign sponsors, 5 percent to the government, 15 percent to local
sponsors and 10 percent to general shareholders, its officials said.
Islamic Development Bank is the biggest foreign sponsor of the bank,
said the officials, adding that institutional investor JP Morgan also
has a stake in the bank.
According to the banks website, three ministries of Kuwait — Public
Institution for Social Security, Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs,
and Ministry of Justice and Department of Minors Affairs Kuwait Finance
House — Jordan Islami Bank, Dubai Islami Bank and Al-Rajhi Company for
Currency Exchange and Commerce, Saudi Arabia are also the leading
sponsors of the bank.
“We have no plan to sell our stakes, rather we want to buy more if any
one wishes to sell,” said Salauddin Ahmed, representative of Kuwait
Finance House, Kuwait and an elected director of Islami Bank. He said
this referring to news reports that the bank’s foreign sponsors were
selling their shares in the wake of Shahbagh movement.
“We are proud to be a shareholder of a leading bank that runs under Sharia law, he said.
Two basic principals of Islami banking are: sharing profit and loss with
the client and most significantly prohibition on collection and payment
of interest. Charging interest on loans is not permitted in Islamic
law.
Chairman of IFIC Bank Salman F Rahman, who was present at the ceremony,
said “Finance Ministers of America and Europe have opined that they
could have avoided the recession had they followed Sharia banking system.”
Aftab ul Islam, president of American Chamber of Commerce in Bangladesh,
said Islami Bank was the best compliance bank in the country.
Speaking of the bank’s performance in many financial areas, Managing
Director of Islami Bank Mohammad Abdul Mannan said the bank was playing a
significant role in socio-economic development of the country by
contributing to higher growth in remittance, industrialisation and
export-import businesses.
The bank was listed in Dhaka Stock Exchange in 1985. Its share traded at Tk 43.3 on Thursday, according to DSE website.
