Standard Chartered Bangladesh (SCB) has begun the process of selling its retail banking business, including credit cards, and has proposed non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) to four private banks interested in acquiring it. One condition applies: the buyer must also take on the division’s nearly 1,500 staff. That has delayed the signing of NDAs with three of the banks, sources said.

The four prospective buyers are BRAC Bank, City Bank, Pubali Bank and Mutual Trust Bank. Only City Bank has completed the NDA signing; the other three are still scrutinising SCB’s proposal and its terms, according to those involved.

Bonik Barta spoke to the chief executives and other senior officials of all four banks. Some said the retail business was being offered on the express condition that its employees be absorbed.

The compensation and benefits of taking on so many staff at once present a major challenge. Standard Chartered’s retail bankers are skilled and experienced, but their pay and benefits run substantially higher than those at local banks. Stakeholders said absorbing a large group of well-paid staff could make the business difficult to operate profitably and would push up operating costs in retail banking.

It also risks creating internal pay disparities. Retaining the higher pay and benefits of incoming Standard Chartered staff could cause dissatisfaction among existing employees, while adjusting the pay structure for all employees would add to the buyer’s costs.

Pay structures, operating costs and future profitability are therefore being weighed alongside the financial valuation of the business, the officials said.

Pubali Bank’s managing director, Mohammad Ali, told Bonik Barta: “We are interested in acquiring Standard Chartered Bangladesh’s retail banking. They are also positive about our bank. The problem is their 1,500 employees. They have offered to sell the retail business on condition that the staff are taken on. Standard Chartered’s pay structure is not the same as Pubali Bank’s. Our board has discussed the matter. Even so, we remain positive about the acquisition.”

The UK-based multinational has operated in Bangladesh and the wider region for more than 120 years, building a reputation for posting record profits while keeping non-performing loans in check. Over the past five years alone, it has generated close to BDT 100 billion in net profit in Bangladesh.

SCB’s net profit for 2025 was BDT 32.2 billion, the highest of any of the country’s 62 banks, down slightly from the BDT 33 billion recorded in 2024.

The move to sell its retail banking business follows a strategic restructuring that has seen Standard Chartered scale back or withdraw from several smaller economies over recent years. In 2022, it wound down onshore operations in Angola, Cameroon, The Gambia, Jordan, Lebanon, Sierra Leone and Zimbabwe, and closed retail banking in Tanzania and Ivory Coast to concentrate on corporate and institutional clients. It has since sold retail banking businesses in Sri Lanka, Uganda, Zambia and Botswana. Talks over the sale of its Bangladesh retail banking arm began in July 2026.

Arief Hossain Khan, an executive director and spokesman at Bangladesh Bank, told Bonik Barta that Standard Chartered had “officially informed the central bank” of its interest in selling the retail business.

“Which bank buys it, and on what terms, is their own affair. The central bank won’t intervene,” Khan said. “But we will be watching what is decided about the employees.”

Mutual Trust Bank (MTB) is among the banks Standard Chartered has approached to sign an NDA. MTB Managing Director Syed Mahbubur Rahman confirmed the approach: “MTB and several other banks have received proposals from Standard Chartered. Acquisitions of this kind are a long process. The matter is still at a very preliminary stage.”

Standard Chartered operates in Bangladesh through just 18 branches and a single Islamic banking window, yet it earns the highest net profit in the country from a comparatively small loan book. At the end of 2025, its total assets and liabilities stood at BDT 618.54 billion, with disbursed loans of less than BDT 304.23 billion.

The bank’s audited 2025 financial statements show BDT 68.43 billion in retail loans by December 31, with personal loans making up the largest share at BDT 33.49 billion. Credit cards made up BDT 10.69 billion, mortgages BDT 9.51 billion, staff loans BDT 3.31 billion, overdrafts BDT 330 million and car loans BDT 60 million.

Its Islamic banking window held a further BDT 790 million in Ujrah loans (Saadiq credit card), and BDT 10.25 billion in diminishing musharaka products. Retail deposits at Standard Chartered are understood to total around BDT 160 billion.

Asked about the sale, Bitopi Das Chowdhury, head of corporate affairs, brand and marketing at Standard Chartered Bangladesh, said: “These are rumours and speculation circulating in the market. We don’t comment on such speculation. Our operations are continuing as normal. There has been no change to our banking services or operations at this point.”

She added: “Standard Chartered Group regularly evaluates the effectiveness of our global business model. If necessary, we take steps to concentrate resources and attention where we have the capacity to deliver the most distinctive and effective service for our clients. We are a global ‘super-connector’ bank with deep roots of more than 120 years in Bangladesh and the wider region. The bank has a rich heritage and longstanding presence in Bangladesh, and we remain firm in our commitment to the country.”