“We want to form a fully independent board for Islami Bank. The aim of this step is to ensure the bank’s transparency, accountability and effective management.”
Mohammad Zahir Hossain, the newly appointed administrator of Islami Bank Bangladesh PLC, said efforts were under way to form a fully independent board for the bank as part of measures to strengthen the institutional governance of the country’s largest Sharia-based lender and to restore public confidence.
He said the central bank had given him administrative responsibility for a limited period and that forming an independent board was one of the top priorities.
He made the remarks while speaking to journalists after taking charge at the bank’s head office at 1 p.m. on Monday (June 15).
Mohammad Zahir Hossain said: “We want to form a fully independent board for Islami Bank. The aim of this step is to ensure the bank’s transparency, accountability and effective management.”
He called on customers to continue their banking activities without any hesitation and assured them that all banking operations and transactions would run normally.
Saying “there is no scope to look back,” he added that recent changes in the bank’s management gave depositors and customers no reason to be anxious.
Last Sunday (June 14), Bangladesh Bank dissolved the entire board of directors of Islami Bank Bangladesh PLC, including the chairman, under the provisions of the Bank Company Act, 1991.
In a statement, Bangladesh Bank said the decision had been taken to protect the interests of depositors and the general public.
Bangladesh Bank further announced that, under Section 47(3) of the Bank Company Act, 1991, the central bank’s executive director Mohammad Zahir Hossain would exercise all the powers of the board and perform all duties during the interim period.
As a separate measure to strengthen the bank’s liquidity position, the central bank the same day approved a special loan of 2,500 crore taka (about US$210 million) for Islami Bank to help the institution tackle its ongoing liquidity crisis and ensure the smooth running of banking operations.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report