Sir Fazle Hasan Abed retires from BRAC Bank too, Ahsan H Mansur replaces him

Sir Fazle Hasan Abed has retired as chairperson of BRAC Bank Limited after his departure from the world’s largest non-government organisation.

News Deskbdnews24.com
Published : 26 August 2019, 02:12 PM
Updated : 26 August 2019, 02:12 PM

Economist Ahsan H Mansur, an independent director, will head the bank’s board of directors from now on, it said in a media release on Monday.

The founder chairperson is retiring from his role as member of the board as well.

This is part of Sir Fazle’s long-established practice of building strong succession, BRAC Bank said.

After the inception of the bank in 2001, he led the board until 2008 and then rejoined the post in 2013.

With Sir Fazle at the helms, BRAC Bank has proven itself to be “one of the most successful financial institutions in Bangladesh, ensuring inclusion of the unbanked population in the financial system”, according to the release.

“In the bank’s formative stage, keen on visualising the future, he led the BRAC Bank to become the most modern, customer-friendly and technologically advanced bank in Bangladesh,” it added.

“I have been planning for my succession at BRAC for many years. Building strong leadership and gradually transitioning from my roles as the Chairperson of BRAC-affiliated entities are part of that process,” it quoted him as saying.

“Now, at the age of 83, I feel the time is right for me to step down as the Chairman of BRAC Bank’s Board of Directors and elect a new Chair who is well-versed in banking and the administration of financial institutions,” Sir Fazle said, according to the release.

Ahsan Mansur was inducted as an independent director to the board in 2017.

He started his career as a lecturer in Dhaka University’s Department of Economics in 1976.

He had a long career at the International Monetary Fund or IMF as well.

After joining the IMF in 1981, he completed his PhD in economics on general equilibrium analysis from the University of Western Ontario, Canada in 1982.

Working in Middle Eastern, Asian, African and Central American countries, he also served as the IMF senior resident representative to Pakistan during 1998-2001 and as the fiscal advisor to the finance minister of Bangladesh from 1989 to 1991.

After retiring from the IMF, Mansur established the Policy Research Institute of Bangladesh as its founder director and executive director.

“BRAC Bank was founded to create greater financial access for the ‘missing middle’ – the small and medium entrepreneurs of Bangladesh who needed institutional financing to grow and prosper,” Sir Fazle said about Mansur, according to the release.

“Encouraging entrepreneurship is key to sustaining Bangladesh’s flourishing economic growth. I am confident that, under the able guidance of Dr Mansur, BRAC Bank will remain true to its vision and continue to generate growth opportunities for the promising entrepreneurs of the country. This will, in turn, create an opportunity for BRAC Bank to grow and flourish particularly if the synergy between BRAC Bank and its subsidiary bKash is fully leveraged,” Sir Fazle added.

Under the guidance of the new chairperson, BRAC Bank will continue to finance small enterprises and to serve its valued customers with superior products and services in order to meet their banking needs in full, the bank said.

Mansur said: “Sir Fazle is an iconic figure. No one can substitute him for his proven capacity for institution-building. I am extremely grateful to him and the Board for showing confidence in me for leading the institution into the future.

“I believe BRAC Bank has already established itself as one of the leading banks and strives to be the best and become a Bank of international standard. In this journey, which is the vision shared by Sir Fazle, the SME sector will always remain as the focus of BRAC Bank.

“I look forward to receive support from BRAC Bank Board, the Management and the Staff in fulfilling Sir Fazle’s dream to make the first international standard Bank of Bangladesh origin,” he added.