The grand inauguration ceremony of the newly formed state-owned Sammilito Islami Bank, which was scheduled to take place at the capital’s Hotel InterContinental on Sunday morning, has been cancelled.
According to sources, the event was called off due to security concerns. The bank has been recently established by merging five crisis-hit Shariah-based banks – First Security Islami Bank, Global Islami Bank, Union Bank, EXIM Bank, and Social Islami Bank.
The decision to cancel the programme followed reports on various social media platforms where a section of depositors and officials from Chittagong-based branches announced plans to besiege the venue.
Under the circumstances, Bangladesh Bank Governor Ahsan H Mansur and Finance Adviser Salehuddin Ahmed held a discussion and decided to scrap the event to maintain safety.
The inauguration was expected to mark the formal commencement of the bank’s full-scale operations.
Finance Adviser Salehuddin Ahmed was scheduled to attend as the chief guest, while Md Khairuzzaman Mozumder, secretary of the Financial Institutions Division of the Ministry of Finance, and Governor Ahsan H Mansur were invited as special guests.
The ceremony was to be presided over by the Chairman of Sammilito Islami Bank, Mohammad Ayub Mia.
Regarding administrative progress, sources confirmed that the process of appointing a managing director is currently underway and is expected to be finalized within this week. Following this, appointments for other top-tier positions, including Deputy Managing Director, Chief Financial Officer, and Company Secretary, will be concluded.
