Sonali Bank chairman resigns

The Chairman of state-owned Sonali Bank AHM Habibur Rahman has resigned eight months before the completion of his tenure.

He submitted his resignation letter to the board of directors on Sunday.

He cited ‘personal reason’ for resigning. 

The resignation was later forwarded to the Bank and Financial Institution Division at the Ministry of Finance.

Even though Habibur Rahman showed personal reason for his resignation, a director of the bank hinted that differences had cropped between board of directors and management authorities over recommendations and implementation of policies. 

Amid the Hall-Mark scam, the former teacher of Dhaka University’s Commerce Faculty Habibur Rahman was appointed as the chairman of Sonali Bank on Dec 27, 2012.

Rahman , also the former dean of Primeasia University’s Business Faculty, was appointed for three years. His tenure was supposed to complete onDec 26.

He told the reporters on Monday that he has resigned for personal reason. “I can only tell you that much. If you want to know more you can find it out yourself.”

Asked about the reason, Selima Ahmed, a member of the Board said, “The Board prepares policies for the bank’s growth and the management implements them.

“But due to lack of efficiency and sincerity of the management authorities, the policies prepared by the Board are not implemented properly. In many cases management authorities did not pay heed to the directives given by the Board.”

She also said the bank was recovering from the loss incurred due to the Hall-Mark scam. But the recovery process slowed down due to the inefficiency of the management.

Several calls made to the Managing Director of the bank Pradip Kumar Dutta to learn more about the matter went unanswered.