The Bangladesh Bank on Wednesday freed IFIC Bank from the control of controversial Salman F Rahman, former adviser to ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina, by dissolving the bank鈥檚 board and appointing independent directors to it.
The central bank informed the bank鈥檚 managing director of its decision to place the institution under a new board.
Salman who is also the vice-chairman of Beximco Group had served as the chairman of IFIC Bank since 2015.
His son, Ahmed Sayan Fazlur Rahman, who was a director and vice-chairman, was removed due to loan defaulting immediately after the August 5 political changes in the country.
There are allegations that Salman withdrew a significant amount of loans from the bank through various means, using both named and anonymous companies.
He also allegedly raised funds from the bank and the public through bonds and sukuk.
After the fall of the Awami League government on August 5, the police arrested him in the Sadarghat area of Dhaka.
The new IFIC Bank board includes four independent directors and two representative directors.
According to the Bangladesh Bank letter, former National Bank managing director Md Mehmud Hossain, former Bangladesh Bank executive director Ebtadul Islam, BRAC University鈥檚 economics department professor Sajjad Zahir and chartered accountant Kazi Md Mahbub Kashem have been appointed as independent directors to the IFIC Bank board.
Due to the government鈥檚 32.75 per cent shareholding in the bank, Finance Division additional secretary Md Golam Mostafa and joint secretary Muhammad Manjurul Haque have been appointed as representative directors.
Since the political changes on August 5, eight private banks have been freed from controversial S Alam Group鈥檚 grip.
These banks were struggling with liquidity crises due to various issues. The boards of First Security Islami Bank, Social Islami Bank, Union Bank, Global Islami Bank, Islami Bank Bangladesh, Al-Arafah Islami Bank, National Bank and Bangladesh Commerce Bank, which were controlled by the S Alam Group, have been dissolved.
The board of Aviva Finance, a financial institution owned by this business group, has also been dissolved, as well as the board of UCB Bank, which was under the control of former land minister and Awami League leader Saifuzzaman Chowdhury.
