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provisions will rehabilitate those who put the entire banking sector at risk with scams and bad loans.

The applicants are led by Maj (retd) Dr Md Rezaul Haque, former chairman and sponsor shareholder of SIBL.

Rezaul, who chaired SIBL’s board until October 30, 2017, was joined by sponsor shareholders Hakim Md Yousuf Harun Bhuiyan, MD and chief mutawalli of Hamdard Laboratories Waqf, and Sultan Mahmood Chowdhury.

The other applicants are former shareholder director Afia Begum and shareholder Md Zabedul Alam Chowdhury.

Contacted, Bangladesh Bank spokesperson and Executive Director Arief Hossain Khan said the application “might have been submitted, but has not yet reached the relevant department”.

The application argued that the merger initiative did not adequately consider the “distinct operational realities and financial condition of SIBL, particularly as the primary issue related to liquidity stress rather than fundamental insolvency”.

The applicants said SIBL’s governance was disrupted due to external influence between 2017 and 2024, when significant changes in control and management structure weakened the institutional foundation of the entity.

SIBL was under the control of the Chattogram-based business house S Alam Group, which allegedly took over the entity through coercion.

The applicants have proposed a strategic recovery roadmap and requested eight years, including a two-year grace period, to repay nearly Tk 11,000 crore owed to Bangladesh Bank at the bank rate.

SIBL was merged with First Security Islami Bank, Union Bank, Global Islami Bank, and EXIM Bank into Sommilito Islami Bank. The merged entity received its licence in December last year after the government and Bangladesh Bank injected Tk 35,000 crore in capital and provided additional liquidity support.