Social Islami Bank

What Social Islami Bank does

Social Islami Bank PLC (SIBL), founded in 1995 and headquartered in Dhaka, was a Bangladesh-listed private commercial bank offering Shariah-compliant personal, commercial, wealth management, and investment banking services. It operated with 10,000+ employees and served a large retail deposit base, with around 78 lakh (7.8 million) depositors across the five Islamic banks that were ultimately consolidated. The bank's business model centered on mobilizing deposits and extending Shariah-compliant financing (profit-and-loss sharing, Murabaha, Ijarah, and similar Islamic structures), earning income from the spread between returns on financing assets and returns paid to depositors, supplemented by fee-based trade and treasury services.

By 2025 the franchise had become deeply distressed. SIBL recorded a record net loss of Tk 1,704 crore (~US$155 million) in the first nine months of 2025, driven by rising interest/profit expenses and aggressive loan provisioning. Heavy exposure to a small group of large borrowers — collectively linked to Tk 3.35 trillion in defaulted loans across six major industrial groups, including S. Alam Group — left the bank with negative equity and persistent liquidity strain. Combined with sector-wide pressure, this triggered Bangladesh Bank to dissolve SIBL's board on November 5, 2025, declare its shares worthless, and force a five-bank merger.

Effective January 1, 2026, SIBL was consolidated with Exim Bank, First Security Islami Bank, Global Islami Bank, and Union Bank into a new government-backed entity, Sammilito Islami Bank PLC, capitalized with Tk 35,000 crore (Tk 20,000 crore from the government and Tk 15,000 crore from the Deposit Insurance Trust Fund). Bangladesh Bank provided Tk 75,903 crore in sector liquidity assistance and enacted the Bank Resolution Act, 2026 to formalize the resolution and protect depositors through a structured withdrawal scheme. As a result, Social Islami Bank PLC no longer operates as an independent entity; its assets, liabilities, and customer relationships are now part of Sammilito Islami Bank, with ongoing asset-recovery actions against large defaulters.

Name

Social Islami Bank

Legal name

Social Islami Bank PLC

Website

https://www.siblbd.com

Company type

Public

Founded year

1995

Operating status

Acquired

Headcount range

5,001–10,000 employees

Short description

Social Islami Bank PLC was a Dhaka-based Shariah-compliant private commercial bank offering personal, commercial, wealth, and investment banking services to retail depositors and Shariah-finance clients in Bangladesh; it ceased independent operations on January 1, 2026, when it was merged into the government-backed Sammilito Islami Bank following Bangladesh Bank declaring it nonviable.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Islamic Commercial Banking

NAICS

Commercial Banking (522110)

SIC

National Commercial Banks (6021)

akta.pro primary industry

Islamic Retail Banking (FSABAGAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Islamic SME & Commercial Banking (FSABAGAB), Islamic Private Banking & Wealth (FSABAGAD), Shariah-compliant Financing Products (Murabaha, Ijara, Tawarruq, Istisna, Salam) (FSABAGAH), Islamic Investment Banking & Capital Markets Services (FSABAGAG)

Keywords

• Islamic banking services
• Shariah-compliant banking
• Commercial banking
• Retail deposits
• Wealth management

Headquarters

HQ city

Dhaka

HQ country

Bangladesh

HQ region

Asia

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Others, Supply Chain

Core offering

Social Islami Bank PLC provided Shariah-compliant personal banking, commercial banking, wealth management, and investment banking services. Its core offerings included Islamic deposit products (Mudarabah), trade and project financing (Murabaha, Bai-Muajjal), letters of credit and guarantees, foreign exchange, and corporate banking for businesses, as well as retail deposit accounts, consumer financing, and Shariah-compliant investment products for individuals. As of January 1, 2026, the bank's operations were absorbed into the newly formed Sammilito Islami Bank PLC under Bangladesh Bank's resolution framework.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Shariah-Compliant Personal Banking Retail deposit products (Mudarabah-based savings and current accounts), consumer financing, and personal banking services designed for individual customers seeking Shariah-compliant banking in Bangladesh.
• Commercial and Corporate Banking Shariah-compliant trade finance (Murabaha, Bai-Muajjal), project finance, working capital financing, letters of credit, and guarantees offered to corporate borrowers and large industrial groups in Bangladesh.
• Wealth Management Services Shariah-compliant wealth management advisory and investment products provided to high-net-worth individual customers and corporate clients.
• Investment Banking Services Investment banking services offered under Shariah principles, including capital market support and structured finance for qualifying corporate clients.

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Bangladesh BankcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 2 April 2026Bangladesh Bank is coordinating the effort to trace laundered money and overseas assets. The central bank is overseeing asset recovery agreements with multinational legal and advisory firms for defaulted loans totaling Tk 3.35 trillion linked to six major industrial groups. This affects banks including Social Islami Bank (now part of Sammilito Islami Bank) as they work to recover funds from large defaulters.
• Bangladesh Capital Market Investors Association (BCMIA)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 16 November 2025BCMIA initially protested against Bangladesh Bank over the merger of five Shariah-based banks due to investor compensation concerns. Following discussions with authorities and positive remarks from the Finance Adviser about the banks' shares, the association called off its planned protest, facilitating the merger process.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• First Security Islami Bank PLC: Co-merged Islamic private commercial bank in Bangladesh with overlapping retail, SME, and corporate Shariah-compliant offerings comparable to SIBL's portfolio.
• Union Bank PLC (Bangladesh): Fifth Shariah-based bank merged into Sammilito Islami Bank; directly comparable in terms of Islamic retail and commercial banking offerings and customer base.
• Exim Bank PLC (Bangladesh): One of the five Shariah-based banks merged into Sammilito Islami Bank alongside SIBL; directly comparable Islamic retail and commercial banking franchise.
• Islami Bank Bangladesh PLC: Largest Shariah-based private commercial bank in Bangladesh, offering a full suite of Islamic retail, commercial, and investment banking products to a mass-market depositor base directly comparable to SIBL's franchise.
• Al-Arafah Islami Bank PLC: Bangladesh-based Shariah-compliant private commercial bank with a similar retail and SME deposit-led business model, directly comparable to SIBL's product mix and customer segments.
• Shahjalal Islami Bank PLC: Bangladesh Shariah-based private commercial bank offering Islamic retail and corporate banking services; competes with SIBL in the same regulatory and product space.
• Global Islami Bank PLC: Another Shariah-based bank merged into Sammilito Islami Bank with SIBL; offers directly comparable Islamic deposit, financing, and investment products to similar retail and SME customers.

Broad incumbents

• Dubai Islamic Bank: Major UAE-based Islamic bank offering a comprehensive suite of Shariah-compliant retail, corporate, and investment banking services; useful broader-incumbent comparable for Islamic banking economics.
• Al Rajhi Bank: Largest Islamic bank globally, offering full-scale Shariah-compliant retail, commercial, and investment banking products across the Middle East; relevant broader-incumbent benchmark for Islamic banking scale and product breadth.

Regional players

• Bank Islam Malaysia Berhad: Leading Shariah-compliant bank in Malaysia offering Islamic retail, commercial, and investment banking; comparable Shariah product franchise and governance structure, though operating in a different geography.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks2 records

Key highlights4 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/socialIslamiLtd
• Facebookfacebook.com/socialislamibankplc
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/social-islami-bank-plc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Social Islami Bank