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Bank Watch
Source: BDPolicyLab Watch record and cited public sourcesAs of 2026-07-05
The bank is currently facing a combination of capital shortfall and high non-performing loans, necessitating a strategic turnaround plan and leadership restructuring.
Released Q1 2026 un-audited financial statements and 44th AGM notice.
DSE placed the bank in 'Z' category due to failure to declare dividends for two consecutive years.
ARGUS Credit Rating Services Limited assigned a long-term rating of 'A-' and short-term 'ST-2'.
Launched the pilot phase of 'AB e-Loan', an AI-powered digital loan product.
Held 44th Annual General Meeting at Kurmitola Golf Club, Dhaka.
Incorporated December 31, 1981 as Arab Bangladesh Bank Limited; commenced operations April 12, 1982 as Bangladesh's first private commercial bank. Renamed AB Bank Limited on November 14, 2007; later converted to public limited company (PLC). DSE listing since 1983. Paid-up capital BDT 8,956.95 million and authorized capital BDT 15,000 million per DSE company profile (May 18, 2026). Shares outstanding: 895,694,749 at face value BDT 10. Foreign ownership: historically sizable Arab/Gulf stake (founding shareholders included Arab investors from UAE and Bahrain), but current foreign ownership percentage is not confirmed in any publicly accessible primary source as of May 2026 and is therefore left null rather than guessed. Government ownership is nil (purely private bank). FY2024 financials (total assets BDT 409,870 crore, deposits BDT 322,920 crore, loans BDT 331,850 crore, net loss BDT 1,906 crore) sourced from search-extracted summary of AB Bank 2024 Annual Report (abbl.com) and confirmed by tob.news bailout article. CAR, ROA, ROE, and npl_pct for FY2024 statutory filing not retrievable from accessible sources as of this date (PDFs binary-encoded); CAR known to be below 12.5% regulatory minimum given BDT 4,298 crore capital shortfall. NPL ratio as of September 2025 (post-forensic audit) ~84% per The Daily Star; FY2024 statutory NPL ratio not confirmed separately. Branch count of 105 (104 domestic + 1 Mumbai) per abbl.com/background/; ATM count 'over 250' per same source, entered as 250 minimum. Employee count approximately 2,300 per Wikipedia (2024) versus 2,202 per Banglapedia (2020); no precise 2024-2025 figure available in public sources. Chairman Kaiser A. Chowdhury elected at 813th board meeting on May 15, 2025 per The Daily Star and Dhaka Tribune reports. MD/CEO Syed Mizanur Rahman effective May 5, 2025 per official abbl.com press release and TBS News. Rating: ARGUS A- for 2025-26 per BB ECAI document (based on December 31, 2024 financial statements); the 2012-era CRAB AA3 displayed on abbl.com credit-rating-report page is stale (from 2011 financials). Q1 2026 EPS of -9.220 BDT per DSE (annualized: ~-36.88 BDT), consistent with continued deep losses. verification_status=partial: FY2024 CAR, ROA, ROE, official NPL ratio, and current foreign ownership pct are not confirmed from accessible primary sources.
Md. Fazlur Rahman, FCA, elected as the new Chairman of the Board of Directors.
Appointed Md. Rafiqul Islam Khan, FCS, as the new Company Secretary.
Signed a Memorandum of Understanding with OPPO for digital/card services.
Supported the inauguration of 'Bangla QR' usage at Bangladesh Bank's Sylhet office.
Source: 15 primary source linksAs of 2026-07-05