United Commercial Bank (Bangladesh)

The bank was incorporated on 26 June 1983. The government owns shares in the bank. The bank is listed in both Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) by 1986 and Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) by 1995.[4][7]

On 8 April 1993, a director of the United Commercial Bank, Humayun Zahir, was shot dead following a dispute with other bank directors.[8] Another director, Akhtaruzzaman Chowdhury Babu, was accused of the murder.[8] Babu fled the country and returned in 1996 after the Awami League government came to power replacing the Bangladesh Nationalist Party.[8]

On 26 August 1999, Akhtaruzzaman Chowdhury Babu forced his way into a meeting of the board of directors with his son, Saifuzzaman Chowdhury, and hired thugs and took over the bank at gunpoint.[8][9] The chairman of the bank, Zafar Ahmed Chowdhury, was forced to resign.[8] Akhtaruzzaman Chowdhury Babu was a close confidant of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.[9] The Bangladesh Police refused to take any action against the thugs despite being at the scene.[8][9] Zafar Ahmed returned to the board of directors after receiving a court verdict in his favor.[8]

In February 2008, Bangladesh Bank appointed an observer to United Commercial Bank due to ownership disputes.[10]

In 2009, United Commercial Bank signed a contract Bangladesh Cricket Board to become the official sponsor of Bangladesh national cricket team.[11] Akhtaruzzaman Chowdhury Babu became a director of UCB again in 2010 after the Awami League returned to power.[8]

Anti-Corruption Commission sued four officials of UCB and a managing director of a real estate company for embezzling 90 million BDT from the bank.[12] Between 2007 and 2012, four officials of the bank stole 100 million taka from the bank using forged credit cards until they were detected in May 2012.[13] In 2012, the Anti-Corruption Commission sued six for embezzling 129 million BDT from UCB.[14]

In 2013, Humayun Zahir's elder son Sharif Zahir was elected as the Vice Chairman of the Bank.[15][16] A mobile financial service (MFS), Ucash, has been introduced at the end of this year.[17] After eight years of services the name has been changed to Upay.[18][19]

United Commercial Bank launched a new logo, designed by Rafiqun Nabi and Mustafa Manwar, in September 2015.[20] In October it donated 10 million BDT to the relief fund of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.[21] M. A. Hashem was re-elected chairman of UCB.[22]

In 2016, foreign hackers used skimmers to steal personal data from the bank's ATM and used that data to clone cards.[23][24] In March 2016, a Chittagong Court sentenced an official of UCB to jail for allegedly helping a businessman secure 181.8 million BDT loan against a property, which was already mortgaged to Bangladesh Krishi Bank, through fraud and then laundering the money outside of Bangladesh.[25]

In September 2017, United Commercial Bank provided loan waiver to Russel Vegetable Oils Limited, a company liked to bank director, Sultana Hashem, wife of the chairman of Partex Group M. A. Hashem.[26] The loan waiver violated banking rules of Bangladesh.[26]

In 2022, United Commercial Bank announced plans to establish a subsidiary in Singapore to handle remittance.[27] It was also exploring similar subsidiaries in United Arab Emirates and Qatar.[28]