Cenbank to allow full foreign ownership of restructured banks: Governor
If a foreign investor is interested in full ownership, Bangladesh Bank has no objections, says the governor
The Bangladesh Bank is open to allowing full foreign ownership of banks being restructured under its merger plan, if that aligns with investor interest, Governor Ahsan H Mansur has said.
Mansur said the long-term goal is to bring in both local and foreign investors.
If a foreign investor is interested in full ownership, Bangladesh Bank has no objections, the governor said.
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The merger is part of a clean-up of the banking sector, under which five troubled Islamic banks are set to be merged and restructured, with initial funding of Tk15,000 crore to Tk20,000 crore to come from the government through a recapitalisation scheme.
The central bank plans to gradually transfer these banks to private ownership and list them on the stock market.
The five Islamic banks identified for merger are First Security Islami Bank, Exim Bank, Social Islami Bank, Union Bank, and Global Islami Bank. An external audit revealed default rates of 60% to 95% across these institutions.
