Sonali Bank PLC (Public Limited Company) () is the principal state-owned leading public commercial bank in Bangladesh. It is the largest bank in the country. Ziaul Hasan Siddiqui is the chairman of the Bank. Niranjan Chandra Debnath and Sanchia Binte Ali are the deputy managing directors of the bank.
History
Sonali Bank was established in 1972 under the Bangladesh Banks (Nationalisation) Order, through the amalgamation and nationalisation of the branches of National Bank of Pakistan, Bank of Bahawalpur, and Premier Bank branches located in East Pakistan until the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War. When it was established, Sonali Bank had a paid up capital of 30 million taka.
From 1996 to 1999, Dr Atiur Rahman served as a director of Sonali Bank.
In 2001, its authorised and paid up capital were Tk 10 billion and Tk 3.272 billion, respectively. Presently, its authorised and paid up capital is Tk 10 billion and Tk 9 billion, respectively. The bank's reserve funds were Tk 60 million in 1979 and Tk 2.050 billion on 30 June 2000.
The top defaulters of bank in 2006 were Mahanagari Traders Limited, Fair Chemicals (Private) Limited, Khulna Newsprint Mills Limited, Chittagong Jute Manufacturing Company Limited, Shamsul Alamin Cotton Mills Limited, Imperial Dyeing and Hosiery Mills Limited, Jahanara Alamin Spinning, Bright Textile Industries, Bangladesh Textile Mills Corporation, Bangladesh Autorickshaw Chalak Samity, Maola Textile Mills, East West Property Development Limited, Lina Textile Industries, Beximco group, One Composite Mills limited, Riverside Leather and Footwear Limited, Desma Shoe Industries, Nawab Askari Jute Mills Limited, Alpha Tobacco Manufacturing Company Limited, and Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation.
In 2007, Sonali Bank was converted into a public limited company and renamed to Sonali Bank Limited.
In 2008, Sonali Bank had a loss of nearly 40 billion taka but the managing director of the bank, S. A. Chowdhury, predicted the bank can make a profit within five years. On 22 May, BM Bakir Hossain, top union official of the Sonali Bank Employees Union, was sentenced to 13 years' jail and fined 1 million taka for corruption. He was also the president of Bangladesh Bank Employees Federation and joint secretary of the Bangladesh Jatyatabadi Sramik Dal.
In 2009, Quazi Baharul Islam was appointed chairman of Sonali Bank.
On 2 October 2010, Sonali Bank filed a loan default case against Dandy Dyeing Limited and its ten directors with Artha Rin Adalat-1. The directors of Dandy Dyeing Limited are Tarique Rahman, Arafat Rahman, Arafat's wife Sharmila Rahman Sithi, Arafat's daughter Zafia Rahman, Arafat's another daughter Zahia Rahman, Giasuddin Al Mamun, Mamun's wife Shahina Yasmine, Nasrin Iskander wife of Sayeed Iskander, Shafin Iskander, Shams Iskander, Kazi Galib Abdus Sattar and Sumaiya Iskander. The company had burrowed the money on 16 October 2001. Former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia was also an accuse in the case.
From 2010 to 2012, Hallmark Group swindled 35 billion taka from Sonali Bank known as the Hallmark-Sonali Bank Loan Scam. Described by The Daily Star as "one of the worst financial scandal" in the history of Bangladesh. The loans were all given from its branch located at Ruposhi Bangla Hotel. 17 officers of the bank were suspended following the scam. ANM Mashrurul Huda, general manager, blew the whistle on the scam. Transparency International Bangladesh called for an investigation into the affair. Minister of Finance, Abul Maal Abdul Muhith, blamed members of Awami League of protecting scammers at Sonali and BASIC Bank Limited. Bangladesh Foreign Exchange Dealers' Association asked Sonali Bank to pay bills of Hallmark Group as the banks accepted the bills on Sonali Banks acceptance. Consultancy firm Syful Shamsul Alam and Co blamed Sonali Bank for the scam not being detected. AHM Habibur Rahman was appointed chairman of the bank replacing Quazi Baharul Islam. The Bank refused to reschedule loans of Hallmark Group.
In 2013, $250,000 was stolen from the bank by Cyber criminals using the Swift International payments network. In 2016 the Bank signed a Memorandum of Understanding with PayPal. It also signed an agreement with MoneyGram.
Bangladesh Bank appointed an observer to Sonali Bank in 2015. Observers were also appointed to Rupali Bank, Agrani Bank, and Janata Bank. In July 2015, robbers killed two security guards of Sonali Bank's branch in Kalaroa Upazila, Satkhira District.
Rapid Action Battalion stopped a robbery attempt at the Dhamrai branch of the bank killing one of the robbers in a shootout in 2016.