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Published : 13 Mar 2025, 01:21 AM
Bangladesh Bank has dissolved the boards of directors of three commercial banks—Meghna Bank, NRB Bank, and NRBC Bank.
On Wednesday, Bangladesh Bank Executive Director Arief Hossain Khan confirmed the move but did not provide specific reasons for the action.
The central bank, however, appointed new directors drawn from the banks’ founding shareholders, former senior bankers, university professors, and chartered accountants to oversee the institutions’ governance.
The affected banks are among the fourth-generation lenders approved during the first term of the ousted Awami League government in 2012.
Their founders included political figures aligned with the Awami League and the Jatiya Party, as well as affiliates of the ruling party’s international wings.
Until the board’s dissolution, Meghna Bank was chaired by former MP HN Ashequr Rahman, while Mohammad Mahtabur Rahman and Parvez Tamal led NRB Bank and NRBC Bank, respectively.
The latest intervention follows a broader financial shake-up undertaken by the interim government, which came to power after former prime minister Sheikh Hasina fled to India on Aug 5, 2024.
Since taking office, the government has sought to address longstanding governance issues in the banking sector, appointing Ahsan H Mansur as governor of Bangladesh Bank.
Under Mansur’s leadership, the central bank has already dissolved and restructured the boards of 11 other financial institutions.
Eight of those banks were linked to the Chattogram-based industrial giant S Alam Group, while others were controlled by ministers, advisors, and beneficiaries of the previous government.
The governor has defended these actions as necessary to safeguard depositors’ interests.
In addition, 87 percent of loans from these banks were taken by single families, all of which are now in default.
On Thursday, Bangladesh Bank is expected to provide further details on the restructuring of Meghna, NRB, and NRBC banks.
However, information from senior officials and the banks themselves has already revealed the composition of the new boards.
The new board of Meghna Bank includes Uzma Chowdhury, a founding shareholder; Tanveer Ahmed, representing Cassiopeia Fashion Ltd; and independent directors Md Mamunul Hoque and Md Rajab Ali, both former executive directors of Bangladesh Bank.
Other members include Md Nazrul Islam, former managing director of Jamuna Bank, Habibur Rahman, former additional managing director of Prime Bank, and chartered accountant Md Ali Akter Rizvi.
NRB Bank’s newly constituted board includes Iqbal Ahmed OBE, an entrepreneurial shareholder; Ferdous Ara Begum, a former Grameen Bank board member; and former Bangladesh Bank executive director Shaikh Md Salim.
Additional independent directors include Md Quamrul Islam Chowdhury, former managing director of Mercantile Bank; Sheikh Matiur Rahman, a former deputy managing director of Prime Bank; Sharif Nurul Ahkam, a professor at North South University; and chartered accountant Mizanur Rahman.
Meanwhile, NRBC Bank’s board now includes Md Ali Hossain Prodhania, former managing director of Bangladesh Krishi Bank, alongside former Bangladesh Bank executive directors Md Abul Bashar and Md Anwar Hossain.
Other appointees include former Sonali Bank deputy managing director Md Nurul Hoque, Supreme Court lawyer Md Shafiqur Rahman, Syed Abul Kalam Azad of American International University Bangladesh, and chartered accountant Muhammad Emdad Ullah.
