Stock market investors, under the banner of the Bangladesh Pujibazar Oikya Parishad, on Thursday demanded the resignation of Finance Adviser Dr Salehuddin Ahmed and Bangladesh Bank Governor Dr Ahsan H Mansur, alleging that the recent merger of five Shariah-based banks was carried out without consulting investors or safeguarding their interests.
At a protest rally in front of the former Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) building in Motijheel, the organisation’s General Secretary, Sajjad Hossain, announced that investors would launch a movement demanding the resignation of both the adviser and the governor, reports UNB.
“The interim government, the central bank, and the finance ministry have no public mandate to merge banks. These decisions were made arbitrarily, ignoring the interests of ordinary investors,” Sajjad said.
He added that determining whether to proceed with bank mergers should be the responsibility of the next elected government. “Such forced actions are harming investors, and these cannot continue under the guise of reform,” he said.
The organisation’s President, Mizanur Rashid Chowdhury, said the central bank governor had not responded despite repeated appeals highlighting investors’ concerns.
“No merger decision can be acceptable if it overlooks the interests of investors,” he warned. “If this decision is not reversed, we will stage a sit-in in front of Bangladesh Bank on Tuesday to demand the governor’s resignation.”
Investors also demanded that shareholders of the five Islamic banks — First Security Islami Bank, Global Islami Bank, Social Islami Bank (SIBL), EXIM Bank, and Union Bank — receive equivalent shares in the newly merged entity.
Additionally, they called for the confiscated assets of the S. Alam Group to be used to compensate affected investors.
The protest came a day after Bangladesh Bank announced the dissolution of the boards of the five banks, citing that their shareholders’ equity had fallen below zero.
“The value of their shares is effectively zero, and no compensation will be provided to anyone,” Governor Mansur stated on Wednesday.
Earlier, trading of shares of the five Islamic banks had been suspended on both the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) and the Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) as part of the ongoing merger process.
In separate notices issued on Thursday, the two stock exchanges confirmed that trading in the shares of the five banks would remain suspended until further notice.
The suspension followed their being declared non-operational under Section 15 of the Bank Resolution Ordinance 2025, which came into effect on 5 November.
According to the exchanges, Bangladesh Bank, in a letter issued on the same day, instructed that the banks be brought under the provisions of the ordinance and subsequently dissolved their respective boards of directors.