The commercial banking system dominates Bangladesh's financial sector. Bangladesh Bank is the Central Bank of Bangladesh and the chief regulatory authority in the sector. The banking system is composed of four state-owned commercial banks, five specialized development banks, thirty private commercial Banks and nine foreign commercial banks. The Nobel-prize winning Grameen Bank is a specialized micro-finance institution, which revolutionized the concept of micro-credit and contributed greatly towards poverty reduction and the empowerment of women in Bangladesh. Pursuant to Bangladesh Bank Order, 1972 the Government of Bangladesh reorganized the Dhaka branch of the State Bank of Pakistan as the central bank of the country, and named it Bangladesh with retrospective effect from 16 December 1971. The banking system of Bangladesh is dominated by the 4 Nationalized Commercial Banks in which 3 is totally controlled by government and 1 (Rupali Bank) bank is controlled by both government and private sector. The nationalized commercial banks are:
Nationalized Commercial Bank of Bangladesh:
a) Sonali Bank b) Agrani Bank c) Rupali Bank d) Janata Bank
Private Banks are the highest growth sector due to the dismal performances of government banks (above). They tend to offer better service and products. a) United Commercial Bank Limited b) Mutual Trust Bank Limited c) BRAC Bank Limited d) Eastern Bank Limited e) Dutch Bangla Bank Limited f) Dhaka Bank Limited g) Islami Bank Bangladesh Ltd h) Uttara Bank Limited i) Pubali Bank Limited j) IFIC Bank Limited k) National Bank Limited l) The City Bank Limited m) NCC Bank Limited n) Prime Bank Limited o) Southeast Bank Limited p) Al-Arafah Islami Bank Limited q) Social Islami Bank Limited r) Standard Bank Limited s) One Bank Limited t) Exim Bank Limited u)