Bangladesh Bank reconstitutes Premier Bank board over poor governance

The Bangladesh Bank has reconstituted the board of directors of Premier Bank, citing a lack of corporate governance and mismanagement.

The central bank dissolved the previous board and appointed a new one after finding deficiencies in corporate governance, failure to maintain loan discipline, and a general lack of good governance.

The Bank Company Act, 1991, empowers the central bank to dissolve or reconstitute a board if its activities are found to be against the interests of the bank or its depositors, or against the public interest.

The central bank stated that this move will help restore transparency, accountability, and discipline in loan management within the banking sector.

Mohammad Shahriar Siddiqui, the acting spokesperson for the central bank confirmed the matter to the media.

In the newly formed board, Arifur Rahman has been appointed as a director representing the sponsor shareholders.

The independent directors are: Md. Forkan Hossain, former executive director of Bangladesh Bank; Syed Faridul Islam, former additional managing director of United Commercial Bank; Md. Sazzad Hossain, former deputy managing director of Bank Asia; Sheikh Morshed Jahan, a professor at the Institute of Business Administration (IBA) at Dhaka University; M. Nurul Alam, a Chartered Secretary.

The previous board was chaired by Mohammad Imran Iqbal, with Jamal G. Ahmed as vice-chairman. Other members included Abdus Salam Murshedy, Shafiqur Rahman, Shaila Shelley Khan, Yeh Cheng Min, and Mohammed Ahmed Ali.

Since 15 August 2024 the Bangladesh Bank has reconstituted the boards of 15 banks, including Premier Bank.

The other banks are: Islami Bank, Social Islami Bank, IFIC Bank, United Commercial Bank (UCBL), Exim Bank, First Security Islami Bank, Al-Arafah Islami Bank, Global Islami Bank, Union Bank, National Bank, NRB Bank, NRBC Bank, Meghna Bank, and BCBL.