Sonali Bank


Sonali Bank Limited is the principle state-owned leading public commercial bank in Bangladesh.
It is the largest bank of the country.

History

Sonali Bank was established in 1972 under the Bangladesh Banks Order, through the amalgamation and nationalisation of the branches of National Bank of Pakistan, Bank of Bahawalpur and Premier Bank branches located in East Pakistan until the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War. When it was established, Sonali Bank had a paid up capital of 30 million taka. In 2001, its authorised and paid up capital were Tk 10 billion and Tk 3.272 billion respectively. Presently, its authorised and paid up capital is Tk 10 billion and Tk 9 billion respectively The bank's reserve funds were Tk 60 million in 1979 and Tk 2.050 billion on 30 June 2000. In 2013, $250,000 was stolen from the bank by Cyber criminals using the Swift International payments network. In 2016 the Bank signed an Memorandum of Understanding with PayPal.

Branches

Sonali Bank has a total of 1225 branches. The most recent branch that opened services is in Damla, Sreenagar, Munshiganj. Out of them, 467 are located in urban areas, 746 in rural areas, and 2 are located overseas. It also operates the Sonali Exchange Company Inc. in USA, Sonali Exchange in Dubai, Sonali Bank Ltd., United Kingdom, Hong Kong,, and Singapore to facilitate foreign exchange remittances. Sonali Bank UK remits up to 25 destinations across Bangladesh directly, these include Dhaka, Chittagong, Sylhet, Moulvibazar, Beanibazar, Balaganj, Biswanath, Jagannathpur, Sunamganj, Gopalganj, Nabigonj, Hobigonj, Kulaura, Tajpur. There are currently four in the US in Washington DC, New York, Chicago and Los Angeles. Additionally four branches in the UK, one located in Osborn Street, inLondon, another in Small Heath; Birmingham and in Manchester.

Islamic banking

In 2010, Islamic banking was launched in 5 branches of different districts of the country through Sonali Bank. In 2009, again Islami banking was launched in six other branches of Sonali Bank in different districts across the country.