Rupali Bank PLC
Profile
- Head
- Kazi Md. Wahidul Islam
- Role
- Managing Director & CEO
- Annual budget
- —
- Staff
- 6000
- Established
- 1972
- Legal basis
- Bangladesh Banks (Nationalisation) Order, 1972 (President's Order No. 26 of 1972); converted to public limited company on 14 December 1986 under the Companies Act; renamed from Rupali Bank Limited to Rupali Bank PLC on 14 December 2023
Rupali Bank is under active regulatory pressure following a BB Bank Supervision Department inspection (published April 2026) that found $1.87 billion in forced loans, 46 serious foreign-exchange irregularities, and 'unsatisfactory' ratings in ICC, CRM, and ICT security; its NPL ratio stood at approximately 51% (Tk 23,712 crore) as of September 2025, among the highest of all commercial banks in Bangladesh; BB rejected the bank's five-year capital recovery plan as unrealistic; a state-bank merger plan (nine SOBs into two) announced by the BB Governor places Rupali among the banks whose future structure is undetermined; a dedicated NPL recovery taskforce recovered Tk 1,700 crore (of Tk 22,000 crore) by September 2025.
Recent activity
- 2026-02-22 statement Bangladesh Bank confirmed that Rupali Bank, along with Agrani, Janata, and BASIC, reported a combined capital shortfall of Tk 31,000 crore as of December 2024; BB rejected all four banks' five-year capital recovery plans as 'unrealistic'; Rupali's individual capital shortfall was approximately Tk 5,100 crore with a capital adequacy ratio of 2.86%, far below the 12.5% regulatory minimum. ↗↗
- 2026-03-01 reform Bangladesh Bank Governor announced a plan to consolidate all nine state-owned banks into two large entities; Rupali Bank, along with Sonali, Agrani, and Janata, is among the four commercial SOCBs in scope; no binding timeline or legal instrument issued as of May 2026. ↗
- 2026-03-15 regulation Bangladesh Bank rejected Rupali Bank's application to open a new authorised dealer branch in Rajarbagh, citing weaknesses in risk management and deteriorating performance across key foreign trade indicators, as identified in the Bank Supervision Department inspection. ↗↗
- 2026-04-22 audit The Business Standard published findings of a Bangladesh Bank Bank Supervision Department inspection of five authorised dealer branches: forced loans reached $1.87 billion by end-2025 (up 91.59% since 2021); 46 serious irregularities documented 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; the bank paid $2.20 billion to foreign banks for imports but could not provide bills of entry for the goods; BB warned of significant money-laundering and trade-based illicit outflow risk; Rupali 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 statement Rupali Bank issued a formal clarification disputing aspects of the TBS forced-loan report; the bank acknowledged the forced loan pile-up but attributed the bulk of outstanding bills-of-entry documentation to Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) imports, claiming approximately 95% of unverified bills were BPC-linked and 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, with the government retaining majority ownership (90.19% government shareholding as of 2024; 9.81% held by institutions and the public). The bank was listed on the Dhaka Stock Exchange. It was renamed from Rupali Bank Limited to Rupali Bank PLC on 14 December 2023 to comply with the Companies Act. Headquarters: 34 Dilkusha Commercial Area, Dhaka. Subsidiaries: Rupali Bank Securities Limited and Rupali Investment Limited. Staff count: Banglapedia records 5,935 (4,257 officers + 1,678 staff) as of 2020; Wikipedia cites 6,000+; staff_count set to 6,000 as a conservative estimate from the most recent secondary sources -- no verified post-2021 headcount found in primary sources. Branch count: 586-587 domestic branches per Wikipedia and multiple news sources (2024-2025 data); Banglapedia records 583 as of 2020. annual_budget_bdt set to null: Rupali Bank is a commercial SOC bank -- its 'budget' is operationally its loan and deposit portfolio, not a government-appropriated budget line; no FID budget allocation figure found in primary sources. NPL trajectory (verified across multiple primary sources): end-2023: ~Tk 17,122 crore; end-2024: Tk 21,357 crore (41.6%); June 2025: Tk 22,180 crore (44%); September 2025: Tk 23,712 crore (51%). Capital shortfall: end-2024 approximately Tk 5,100 crore; worsened to Tk 5,655 crore by September 2025 (per TBS cross-referenced figures); capital adequacy ratio 2.86% vs 12.5% Basel-III minimum. The Tk 23,240 crore capital shortfall figure cited in some sources appears to refer to Agrani Bank, not Rupali; Rupali's verified shortfall range is Tk 4,470-5,655 crore across 2025 reporting periods. Forced loans of $1.87 billion as of end-2025 (published April 22, 2026, TBS and Banking Gurukul): these are off-balance-sheet contingent liabilities arising from unrecovered export-related and LC-backed credit exposures, distinct from classified NPLs -- both represent deterioration but are counted separately. Bill-of-entry gap of $2.20 billion: BB inspection found Rupali paid foreign banks for imports without receiving goods-entry confirmation; the bank's own clarification attributes ~95% to BPC imports, a government entity with different procurement norms, but BB's money-laundering risk warning remains on record. Chairman Md. Nazrul Huda (former BB Deputy Governor, appointed August 14, 2024, three-year term) was appointed by the interim government. MD Kazi Md. Wahidul Islam (FID notification December 12, 2024, joined December 24, 2024, three-year term) was appointed by the interim government. Both remained in post under the BNP government sworn in February 17, 2026 -- no replacement announced as of May 17, 2026. The Saiful Islam board appointment (April 27, 2026) is the first governance change under the BNP government at Rupali Bank.
Sources
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rupali_Bank
- https://en.banglapedia.org/index.php/Rupali_Bank_Limited
- https://rupalibank.com.bd/
- https://www.newagebd.net/post/mis/242579/nazrul-becomes-rupali-bank-chair
- https://thefinancialexpress.com.bd/trade/kazi-md-wahidul-islam-officially-joins-rupali-bank-as-managing-director
- https://www.thedailystar.net/business/economy/banks/news/wahidul-islam-becomes-new-md-rupali-bank-3784486
- https://thefinancialexpress.com.bd/economy/govt-decides-to-raise-rupali-banks-capital-base
- https://www.tbsnews.net/economy/banking/rupali-banks-risky-lending-32-large-clients-ends-tk14156cr-defaults-1311861
- https://www.tbsnews.net/economy/banking/four-state-banks-trouble-90-classified-loans-turn-bad-1233716
- 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/govt-plans-merger-state-owned-banks-two-strengthen-governance-bb-governor-1340061
- https://bankinggoln.com/rupali-banks-forced-loans-near-2bn/
- https://www.bssnews.net/news/316212
- https://www.thedailystar.net/business/economy/banks/news/some-banks-hit-capital-squeeze-3886851
- https://en.prothomalo.com/business/local/oq3uygb4hn
- https://stockanalysis.com/quote/dse/RUPALIBANK/financials/