City Bank's Masrur Arefin named 'CEO of the Year 2025'

Masrur Arefin, Managing Director and CEO of City Bank PLC, has been honoured with the prestigious “CEO of the Year—2025” award in the Financial Institution category at the fourth Bangladesh C-Suite Awards.

He received the award in recognition of his outstanding leadership at City Bank and his contribution of more than three decades to the country’s financial sector.

In previous years, winners in this category were Ali Reza Iftekhar, CEO of Eastern Bank, Syed Mahbubur Rahman, CEO of MTB; and Kamal Quadir, CEO of bKash, says a press release.

City Bank has achieved a number of remarkable successes under Masrur’s leadership over the past six years.

In 2018, the bank’s operating profit was Tk 6.99 billion, which rose to Tk 23.51 billion in 2024; net profit increased from Tk 2.02 billion to Tk 10.85 billion; return on equity climbed from 8.2 per cent to 26.1 per cent, and the bank’s total capital more than doubled.

In addition, in 2024 the central bank recognised City Bank as the country’s leading sustainable bank, the press release adds.

Masrur has also led City Bank’s digital transformation. By taking the Citytouch platform to a much broader scale and implementing groundbreaking solutions such as digital nano loans, he has added a new dimension to financial inclusion in the country.