S Alam’s grip on banks’ boards ends
With the central bank restructuring the boards of two more banks today, all eight banks that were either partially or fully controlled by S Alam have now been freed from the grip of the controversial business group.
The central bank reconstituted the boards of directors for Al-Arafah Islami Bank PLC (AIBL) and Bangladesh Commerce Bank Ltd and issued separate notices to the managing directors of these banks regarding the changes.
Previously, the Bangladesh Bank restructured the boards of six banks — Islami Bank Bangladesh, First Security Islami, Social Islami, Global Islami, Union Bank, and National Bank.
Today, a total of eight independent directors were appointed to the boards of Al-Arafah and Commerce banks, while two previously appointed directors were retained.
Among the new appointments, Khwaja Shahriar, former managing director of Lanka Bangla Finance, has been named chairman of the newly reconstituted Board of Directors at Al-Arafah Islami Bank.
The other independent directors appointed to Al-Arafah Islami Bank include Md Shahin Ul Islam, former executive director of the Bangladesh Bank, Md Abdul Wadud, former deputy managing director of NRB Bank, M Abu Yusuf, professor at the Department of Development Studies of Dhaka University and Mohammad Ashraful Hasan FCA, a chartered accountant.
For Bangladesh Commerce Bank, the appointed independent directors are Md Ataur Rahman, former executive director of the Bangladesh Bank, Md Mohsin Miah, additional managing director of Meghna Bank and Sheikh Ashrafuzzaman FCA, a chartered accountant.
In addition, Kamrul Haque Maruf, joint secretary at the Financial Institutions Division of the Ministry of Finance, and Md Golam Mortuza, deputy managing director of Janata Bank, who were previously appointed by the central bank, have been retained on the board of Commerce Bank.
The Bangladesh Bank has also restructured the boards of 10 other banks, including UCB and Exim Bank.
Aviva Finance freed from S Alam
Aviva Finance Limited, a non-bank financial institution (NBFI), has also been freed from the control of the Chattogram-based S Alam Group, which was implicated in laundering after obtaining massive funds from various banks.
The central banktoday dissolved the previous board of directors of this NBFI and established a new board. The managing director of the institution, M Mostafiduzzaman, was informed of these changes.
The central bank appointed five independent directors to the new board, with Chartered Accountant Md Sadrul Huda FCA serving as chairman.
The other independent directors include Md Golam Mostafa, former executive director of the Bangladesh Bank, HM Mosarof Hossain, chairman of the Finance Department at Dhaka University, Md Rafiqul Islam, former deputy managing director of Agrani Bank, and Abu Taher Md Ahmedur Rahman, former deputy managing director of the Investment Corporation of Bangladesh (ICB).
According to the central bank letter sent to Aviva Finance managing director of the financial institution, the NBFI violated the Finance Companies Act, 2023 in various ways.
Additionally, the NBFI’s new board has been instructed to appoint a chief executive officer as soon as possible.
Previously, Saiful Islam Masud, chairman of S Alam Group, served as the chairman of Aviva Finance’s board. However, following media reports about irregular loan practices, the company made changes to its board of directors.
The chairman of the dissolved board was Syed Abdullah Mohammed Saleh, former managing director (Current Charge) at Union Bank.
