The government has recommended cancelling the appointments of the managing directors (MDs) of three state-owned banks Sonali Bank, Janata Bank and Rupali Bank.
The Financial Institutions Division of the Ministry of Finance issued separate letters on Monday recommending the cancellation of the remaining contractual tenures of the three MDs. The respective banks’ boards of directors will make the final decisions on the matter.
The officials facing removal are Shawkat Ali Khan of Sonali Bank PLC, Md. Mojibor Rahman of Janata Bank PLC and Kazi Md. Wahidul Islam of Rupali Bank PLC.
The letters were signed by Afroz Akter Riba, deputy secretary of the Financial Institutions Division.
The decision was reportedly taken at a meeting held at the Secretariat on Sunday, chaired by Finance Minister Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury. Earlier, the government also removed the managing director of Agrani Bank.
According to the letters, the government has recommended and approved the cancellation of the remaining contractual tenures of the three MDs under their agreements with the respective banks’ boards. The chairmen of the banks have been requested to take the necessary steps in accordance with the Bank Company Act and the terms of the contracts.
All three managing directors were appointed during the tenure of the interim government. They had served as deputy managing directors (DMDs) during the previous Awami League government.
Sources familiar with the matter said the government was looking for new managing directors for the banks.
Sonali Bank Chairman Mahbubur Rahman told Daily Industry on Monday evening that the bank had received the letter recommending the cancellation of its MD’s remaining tenure and had initiated the necessary procedures.
“He will no longer serve as managing director from the next working day. A senior deputy managing director will be assigned as acting MD until a new managing director is appointed,” he said.
Sources said there were discussions about recruiting experienced managing directors from the private sector to lead the state-owned banks. They added that, among the banks concerned, Sonali Bank was the exception in terms of the scale of non-performing loans, indicating that the other three banks referred to in the broader recruitment discussions had higher levels of defaulted loans.
