The Bangladesh Bank has said it will not approve any more proposals for bank mergers for now, except for those already in the process.
"New mergers may be considered if needed after the banks involved in the current five proposals are merged," Executive Director and Spokesperson of the central bank Md Mezbaul Haque told reporters on Monday.
"We received five merging proposals so far," he said.
In response to the question about which banks are included in the five proposals, Mezbaul Haque said Padma and Exim Bank are among those. "The names of the others have already come out in the media," he added.
Under five existing proposals, state-run Sonali Bank wants to acquire Bangladesh Development Bank Ltd (BDBL), while the Bangladesh Krishi Bank (BKB) wants to take over Rajshahi Krishi Unnayan Bank (Rakub), according to sources in the banking sector.
Furthermore, City Bank wants to acquire the state-run BASIC bank, and United Commercial Bank wants to take over National Bank.
"Merging banks involves many procedures, including appointing auditors, setting assets and liabilities, determining share prices, allocation, and legal processes. We [Bangladesh Bank] will gain experience by implementing these five proposals," said Mezbaul.
"Preparing and completing all legal processes for merging two banks can take three to four years."
Earlier last month, the struggling Padma Bank decided to merge with EXIM Bank.
Subsequently, news came out about the merger of Rajshahi Krishi Unnayan Bank (RAKUB) with Krishi Bank, Bangladesh Development Bank Limited (BDBL) with Sonali Bank, the struggling government-owned BASIC Bank with the private sector City Bank, and National Bank with United Commercial Bank (UCB).