Premier Bank plans to shift from Iqbal’s building
The current board of directors of Premier Bank has taken the initiative to relocate the begun the process of relocating the bank’s head office from Iqbal Center, a building owned by its former chairman HBM Iqbal, located on Kamal Ataturk Avenue in Banani, Dhaka.
HBM Iqbal, while in control of the bank, allegedly rented out space in his own building to the banks and charged rent higher than the market average, and this practice has continued since the inception of the bank.
HBM Iqbal served as chairman of Premier Bank for 26 consecutive years after its establishment. He stepped down in August last year following the fall of the Awami League government. Subsequently, Bangladesh Bank reconstituted Premier Bank’s board in August. The new board has now begun the process of moving the bank’s head office from Iqbal Center.
In addition, the bank also began the process of relocating its Gulshan and Baridhara branches due to Iqbal’s involvement. The current management believes that as a result, the bank’s rental expenses will halve. The bank has already invited expressions of interest (EOIs) for buildings to house its head office and the two branches. Information gathered from those EOIs revealed these developments.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh Bank has discovered multiple anonymous loans linked to HBM Iqbal, which are allegedly tied to money laundering activities in Dubai and Malaysia. In light of this, the new board has appointed a multinational audit firm to review all loans and transactions of the bank.
Regarding this, Premier Bank’s chairman Arifur Rahman told Prothom Alo, “I have returned to the bank after a long time. We are trying to place the bank on a strong foundation. To that end, we are relocating the head office and several branches to improve the working environment. We are paying very high rents for these buildings. We are now looking for locations where rent would be half or even less.”
Financial benefit in name of rent
Iqbal Center, located on Kamal Ataturk Avenue in Banani, is owned by HBM. Iqbal. Premier Bank was approved by the then Awami League government in 1999, and Iqbal became its founding chairman. The bank’s head office was established at Iqbal Center. The head office occupies the majority of the floors in the 22-story building.
Besides Premier Bank, other floors of Iqbal Center house offices of Iqbal’s Premier Group and other organisations. Iqbal used to work regularly from this building until the fall of the Awami League government.
According to the bank sources, the rent at Iqbal Center is increased every three years. Premier Bank has been paying Tk 506 per square foot in rent. In total, the bank rents 120,000 square feet in the building, costing over Tk 60 million in rent per month.
Similarly, Premier Bank’s Gulshan branch is located in Iqbal’s Renaissance Hotel, occupying 10,200 square feet. The bank pays Tk 1,145 per square foot in rent there—several times higher than the going rate in the area.
The Baridhara branch of the bank operates in a building owned by Iqbal’s sister-in-law, Munira Harun, wife of Awami League’s former MP Bazlul Haque Harun. That branch occupies 5,000 square feet, for which the bank pays Tk 237 per square foot in rent.
According to the bank sources, Iqbal has received about Tk 3 billion (300 crore) in advance payments for renting out his own properties to the bank.
Search for new building
Recently, the bank has published advertisement seeking new buildings for its head office and several branches, inviting proposals from interested parties to rent out commercial spaces for these purposes. For the head office, the bank is looking for 90,000 to 125,000 square feet in the Gulshan, Banani, Baridhara, or Tejgaon areas.
According to the advertisement, the head office should ideally be between the 6th and 10th floors, while branch spaces are sought on the ground to second floors. Interested landlords have been asked to submit proposals by 15 October.
A bank source said that the management is planning to relocate the head office to the under-construction Pinnacle Tower by Shanta Holdings on the Tejgaon–Gulshan Link Road. The 40-story tower will cost Tk 160 per square foot in rent. This would cut the head office’s rental expenses by half. The bank aims to complete the relocation by June next year.
Meanwhile, the bank authorities also want to relocate the Baridhara branch to a building on Progoti Sarani, where rent would be Tk 65 per square foot.
Since the change of government, former chairman HBM Iqbal has been living abroad. Attempts to contact him via WhatsApp for comments on the bank’s rental arrangements in his properties went unanswered.