The 34th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited. Photo: IBBL
Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN) - The Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited (IBBL) board of directors has removed Syed Ahsanul Alam from his post of vice-chairman at the Shariah-based bank.
The decision was taken at the board meeting held immediately after the IBBL’s 34th Annual General Meeting (AGM) held at Kurmitola Golf Club in the capital on Tuesday.
The board decided to keep one post of vice-chairman, and Yousif Abdullah Al-Rajhi will continue in this post, Arastoo Khan, chairman of the bank, told reporters after the board meeting.
“We’ve no need for two vice chairmen on our board,” Mr. Khan said while explaining the situation.
He also said Ahsanul Alam was removed from vice-chairman post but would remain on the board as an independent director.
Mr. Al-Rajhi is now only vice-chairman of the IBBL board of directors and a foreign director of the bank.
The change in the top position on the IBBL board took place following demand raised at the AGM by some shareholders.
The shareholders said the remarks made by Mr. Alam tarnished image of the bank, a meeting source said.
The board also appointed Shamim Mohammad Afzal, an independent director, as chairman of Risk Management Committee replacing Abdul Mabud, another independent director of the bank.
Earlier on May 11, Mr. Alam, on his Facebook page, wrote he was under pressure from some groups to resign from the post.
Later on May 18, the chairman of the bank alleged that Mr. Alam violated his oath of office by spreading propaganda about the bank.
When contacted, a senior official of Bangladesh Bank (BB) told the FE that the central bank is now watching the overall situation in the IBBL closely.
The country’s largest private commercial bank has recently plunged into problems because of internal conflicts after the changes in its board of directors earlier this year.
On January 05, 2017, former IBBL chairman Mustafa Anwar, its vice-chairman M Azizul Huq and managing director Mohammad Abdul Mannan resigned from the board and former Bangladesh Commerce Bank chairman Arastoo Khan was made the new chairman of the bank.
The then Union Bank managing director and chief executive officer, Md Abdul Hamid Miah, was made the new managing director and chief executive officer of the IBBL.
BBN/SSR/AD