Finance
People's Bank Shakib's dream to emerge as bank owner doesn't come true
Own Correspondent, Dhaka, January 21:�US expatriate Abul Kashem's People's Bank did not get approval even after a long wait.
The bank will not be able to start operations as the Letter of Intent (LOI) has been rejected. However, in the future, the entrepreneurs of the bank will be able to apply for the license under the same name or a new name.
Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan and his mother Shirin Akhtar wanted to own the bank by buying shares. Shakib wanted to raise a capital of more than Rs 25 crore to own the bank. The People's Bank's request to extend the Letter of Intent was rejected in Bangladesh Bank's board meeting on Thursday (January 20).
On 17 February 2019, Bangladesh Bank issued Letters of Intent (LOI) to three new banks - People's Bank, Bengal Commercial Bank and Citizen Bank. Among them Bengal Commercial Bank and Citizen Bank have already started their operations. But People's Bank has repeatedly failed to meet the regulatory body's requirements, including paid-up capital, and had been applying for more time. The last Letter of Intent (LOI) of People's Bank expired on 31 December 2021. Earlier, the entrepreneurs of People's Bank had applied for extension of the LOI term. At the same time, the bank wants to add all-rounder cricketer Shakib Al Hasan as the last attempt to start operations. Even then, People's Bank could not start its activities.
According to sources, Abul Kashem, chairman of the proposed bank, and his wife are now among the previous 12 entrepreneurial directors. To start the operations, 21 new directors applied for appointment. Cricketer Shakib Al Hasan and his mother Shirin Akhtar are among them.
For more than three years, the proposed People's Bank sought to obtain a license for banking business from the central bank. However, it could not get the license as the conditions of LOI were not fulfilled. As a result, the central bank had extended the LOI period several times.
Bangladesh cricket all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan wanted to have two directorships at People's Bank, which was eventually rejected by the central bank's board meeting.
