Rupali Bank PLC
Profile
- Total assets
- ৳807,918,000,000
- Deposits
- ৳661,130,000,000
- Gross NPL
- 41.60%
- CRAR
- 0.20% (category-4)
- Net profit
- ৳1,139,200,000
- Chairman
- Md. Nazrul Huda
- MD/CEO
- Kazi Md. Wahidul Islam
- Rating
- BBB+
Rupali Bank is under active regulatory pressure: a BB Bank Supervision Department inspection (published April 2026) found $1.87 billion in forced loans and 46 foreign-exchange irregularities; its NPL ratio stood at 41.6% (Tk 21,357 crore) at end-2024, rising to 51% (Tk 23,712 crore) by September 2025; CAR of 0.2% is far below the 12.5% minimum; BB rejected the bank's five-year capital recovery plan; the nine-SOCB consolidation plan keeps Rupali's future structure undetermined; auditors flagged a Tk 15,375 crore provision shortfall for 2024.
Recent activity
- 2026-02-22 regulatory_action Bangladesh Bank confirmed Rupali Bank had a capital shortfall of approximately Tk 5,100 crore as of December 2024 and rejected its five-year capital recovery plan as 'unrealistic'; part of the combined Tk 31,000 crore shortfall across four SOCBs. ↗↗
- 2026-03-01 policy Bangladesh Bank Governor announced a plan to consolidate all nine state-owned banks into two large entities; Rupali Bank is among the four commercial SOCBs in scope; no binding timeline or legal instrument issued as of May 2026. ↗
- 2026-03-15 regulatory_action Bangladesh Bank rejected Rupali Bank's application to open a new authorised dealer branch in Rajarbagh, citing weaknesses in risk management and deteriorating performance identified in the Bank Supervision Department inspection. ↗
- 2026-04-22 audit Bangladesh Bank Bank Supervision Department inspection findings published: forced loans reached $1.87 billion at end-2025 (up 91.59% since 2021), 46 serious irregularities across five authorised dealer branches including concealment of loan liabilities via EDF and UPAS LC, creation of forced loans without head-office approval, and issuance of compliance certificates in violation of rules; Rupali paid $2.20 billion to foreign banks for imports without bills of entry for goods; BB flagged significant money-laundering and trade-based illicit outflow risk; bank received 'unsatisfactory' ratings in internal control and compliance (ICC), credit risk management (CRM), and ICT security. ↗↗
- 2026-04-27 appointment Financial Institutions Division gazette notification appointed Saiful Islam, former Executive Director of Bangladesh Bank, as a new director on Rupali Bank PLC's board, replacing Prime Minister's Principal Secretary ABM Abdus Sattar; appointment made under the Bank Company Act, 1991. ↗
- 2026-04-27 other Rupali Bank issued a formal clarification disputing aspects of the TBS forced-loan report; the bank acknowledged the forced loan pile-up but attributed approximately 95% of unverified bills of entry to Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) imports, claiming these did not represent commercial fraud. ↗
Provenance & notes
Rupali Bank was formed on 26 March 1972 by merging three pre-existing commercial banks: Muslim Commercial Bank Ltd., Australasia Bank Ltd., and Standard Bank Ltd. under President's Order No. 26 of 1972. It was denationalised and converted to a public limited company on 14 December 1986, listed on the Dhaka Stock Exchange the same year -- making it the only DSE-listed state-owned commercial bank. It was renamed from Rupali Bank Limited to Rupali Bank PLC on 14 December 2023. Headquarters: 34 Dilkusha Commercial Area, Dhaka. Subsidiaries: Rupali Bank Securities Limited and Rupali Investment Limited. Paid-up capital of Tk 4,879.32 crore (487,932,065 shares at Tk 10 face value) confirmed from DSE display as of April 30, 2026; government ownership of 90.19%, institutional 3.32%, public 6.49%. Authorised capital increased from Tk 700 crore to Tk 2,500 crore (Tk 25 billion) per FID approval March 2024. Branch count: 586 per rupalibank.com.bd official website data and Wikipedia (2024-2025 data); Banglapedia shows 583 as of 2020. Sub-branch count of 33 and ATM count of 63 from multiple press/directory sources (search-verified). Employee count of 7,164 per official website data as of March 31, 2024; PitchBook cites 7,438 for September 2025; Wikipedia/gov_tracker estimate 6,000+. Using 7,164 (official website, most recent primary source). Chairman Md. Nazrul Huda (former BB Deputy Governor) appointed August 15, 2024 for a three-year term under the interim government. MD Kazi Md. Wahidul Islam joined December 24, 2024 (FID notification December 12, 2024) for a three-year term; previously DMD at Sonali Bank and a Rupali Bank career officer (joined 1998). Both remained in post under the BNP-Tarique government sworn February 17, 2026; no replacement announced as of May 18, 2026. FY2024 financials: total assets Tk 80,792 crore and total deposits Tk 66,113 crore from S&P Global Market Intelligence via StockAnalysis (audited balance sheet). Net profit Tk 113.92 million (Tk 11.39 crore) confirmed by multiple press sources (FE, TBS). ROA 0.01% and ROE 0.67% from StockAnalysis. NPL of Tk 21,357 crore at 41.6% of gross loans: auditor-verified by MABS & J Partners and A Wahab & Co from the 2024 audit, confirmed by multiple TBS and The Daily Star reports; implies a gross loan portfolio denominator of approximately Tk 51,340 crore. StockAnalysis 'Gross Loans' figure of Tk 65,290 crore is inconsistent with the 41.6% NPL ratio and likely includes off-balance-sheet contingent items or forced loans; total_loans_bdt uses the NPL-consistent denominator. CRAR of 0.2% with RWAs of Tk 52,954 crore confirmed from New Age Bangladesh ('Banks CRAR plunges to record 3 per cent, 14 in red', December 2024 data); this is far below the Basel-III minimum of 12.5% (10% under Bangladesh Bank's phased-in schedule). Capital shortfall estimates vary by reporting period: approximately Tk 5,100 crore (February 2026 BB statement), Tk 4,470 crore (March 2025), Tk 4,172.82 crore (June 2025) -- variation reflects ongoing NPL deterioration. Rating: NCRBD (National Credit Ratings Limited) assigned BBB+ long-term / ST-3 short-term per Bangladesh Bank ECAI credit rating schedule for 2025-26, valid August 19, 2026; parenthetical sovereign-support rating of AAA/ST-1 also listed, reflecting implicit government guarantee; the BBB+ standalone rating reflects severe financial distress without state support. The FID board appointment of Saiful Islam (former BB Executive Director) on April 27, 2026 is the first governance change under the BNP government at Rupali Bank. BB rejected the bank's AD branch expansion in Rajarbagh citing deteriorating performance from BSD inspection. Combined capital shortfall of Tk 31,000 crore across Agrani, Janata, Rupali, and BASIC is February 2026 BB-reported aggregate; Rupali's share is approximately Tk 5,100 crore per the same BB disclosure.
Sources
- https://www.dsebd.org/displayCompany.php?name=RUPALIBANK
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rupali_Bank
- https://stockanalysis.com/quote/dse/RUPALIBANK/financials/
- https://stockanalysis.com/quote/dse/RUPALIBANK/financials/balance-sheet/
- https://stockanalysis.com/quote/dse/RUPALIBANK/financials/ratios/
- https://www.tbsnews.net/economy/banking/rupali-banks-forced-loans-hit-187b-financial-health-red-flags-mount-1418036
- https://www.tbsnews.net/economy/banking/rupali-bank-issues-clarification-over-forced-loan-pile-1419281
- https://www.tbsnews.net/economy/banking/saiful-islam-joins-rupali-bank-board-new-director-1423166
- https://www.tbsnews.net/economy/banking/four-state-banks-capital-recovery-action-plans-unrealistic-cenbank-1298936
- https://www.tbsnews.net/economy/banking/govt-plans-merger-state-owned-banks-two-strengthen-governance-bb-governor-1340061
- https://www.tbsnews.net/economy/stocks/rupali-bank-reports-tk15375cr-provision-shortfall-no-dividend-2024-1156596
- https://bankinggoln.com/rupali-banks-forced-loans-near-2bn/
- https://www.thedailystar.net/business/economy/banks/news/some-banks-hit-capital-squeeze-3886851
- https://www.thedailystar.net/business/economy/banks/news/nazrul-huda-becomes-rupali-bank-chairman-3677286
- https://www.newagebd.net/post/mis/242579/nazrul-becomes-rupali-bank-chair
- https://www.newagebd.net/post/banking/253720/wahidul-joins-rupali-bank-as-md
- https://www.newagebd.net/print/post/263939
- https://thefinancialexpress.com.bd/trade/kazi-md-wahidul-islam-officially-joins-rupali-bank-as-managing-director
- https://thefinancialexpress.com.bd/economy/govt-decides-to-raise-rupali-banks-capital-base
- https://thefinancialexpress.com.bd/stock/bangladesh/rupali-banks-profit-drops-82pc-in-2024
- https://www.bb.org.bd/fnansys/ecai_rating/ecai_credit_rating.pdf
- https://simplywall.st/stocks/bd/banks/dse-rupalibank/rupali-bank-shares/health
- https://en.bonikbarta.com/business/CjWtvRDWI1Rs9ikV