Court Orders Seizure of NRBC Bank Founder Syed Munsif Ali’s Shares

A Dhaka financial loan court has ordered the seizure of all shares owned by Syed Munsif Ali, an entrepreneur and founding shareholder of NRBC Bank, which was established with investments from non-resident Bangladeshis.

The order was issued on Wednesday by Judge Mujahidur Rahman of the Artha Rin Adalat-5 (Financial Loan Court) in connection with a loan default case involving Tk 191 crore owed to United Commercial Bank (UCB).

Earlier, in March, the Bangladesh Bank dissolved the bank’s previous board of directors citing decisions taken against depositors’ interests, forming a new independent board instead. None of the original shareholders currently remain on the board.

According to information provided by UCB, the court has ordered the seizure of 14,354,645 shares held by Munsif Ali in NRBC Bank.

However, data from the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) indicate that the majority of those shares have already been sold, leaving him with only 618,142 shares at present.

According to relevant sources, Munsif Ali, through Multiplan Limited, obtained a loan from UCB’s Elephant Road Branch some years ago, with his wife Shamimatun Nasim serving as a guarantor.

Due to failure to repay the loan, the outstanding amount — including accumulated interest — has now reached Tk 191 crore.

As a founding shareholder of NRBC Bank, Munsif Ali initially purchased 17.93 million shares, investing the equivalent of Tk 17.93 crore in US dollars from Canada. Over the first eight years, he received an additional 6.42 million bonus shares, bringing his total holdings to 24.32 million shares.

Before NRBC Bank was listed on the stock exchange in 2020, he transferred 10 million shares to five different individuals.

An NRBC Bank official, speaking to The Daily Samakal, said that Munsif Ali repaid a Mercantile Bank loan using the proceeds from his share sales.

Regarding the timing of the share transfers before the bank’s listing, the official explained: “Normally, a company’s share price increases after being listed. However, for founding shareholders, a three-year lock-in period applies, during which share sales are prohibited. To bypass this restriction, he transferred shares to others before listing, enabling their subsequent sale without breaching regulations.”

Corporate records show that Munsif Ali began offloading his remaining shares in phases starting 26 August 2025, when he still held 14.35 million shares.

• 26 August: Announced sale of 3 million shares
• 6 October: Completed four phases totalling 12 million shares
• 9 October: Announced sale of an additional 1,736,503 shares, finalised on 14 October

After these transactions, only 618,142 shares remain in his possession.

Ali Hossain Prodhania, Chairman of NRBC Bank, confirmed that most of Munsif Ali’s shares had already been sold prior to the court order.

“By the time the court issued its directive, Munsif Ali had already disposed of the majority of his holdings,” said Prodhania.

Regulatory Background

Founded in 2013, NRBC Bank was among nine banks approved on political considerations.

To protect depositors’ interests and restore good governance, the Bangladesh Bank restructured the institution on 12 March 2025, appointing Ali Hossain Prodhania, former Managing Director of Bangladesh Krishi Bank, as Chairman of a five-member independent board.

The incident underscores continuing regulatory scrutiny in Bangladesh’s financial sector and the central bank’s efforts to strengthen governance and accountability across private financial institutions.