Nazrul Islam Mazumder removed from Exim Bank board

Bangladesh Bank has reconstituted the board of directors of EXIM Bank, bringing an end to the era of the financial institution's influential chairman Nazrul Islam Mazumder.

Mazumder, also the founder of Nassa Group, has been occupying the post of Exim Bank's chairman since 2007.

A close ally of the recently-ousted Awami League government, Mazumder has been serving the private bank owners' forum -- Bangladesh Association of Banks (BAB) -- since 2009.

Mazumder not only used his influence at Exim Bank, but also at the overall banking industry, including the central bank, industry insiders said.

Mazumder used his position as BAB chairman to change critical banking policies in favour of his businesses and took loans bypassing the rules and regulations, according to the people with knowledge of the matter.

The banking watchdog formed a new five-member board for Exim Bank, keeping its previous three shareholder directors unchanged.

The three shareholder directors are: Md Nazrul Islam Swapan, Md Nurul Amin and Anjan Kumar Saha.

The two new independent directors are: SM Rezaul Karim, executive director of the central bank, and Khandaker Mamun, a chartered accountant.

The new board was constituted as per section 45 of the Bank Companies Act, 1991 to protect the interests of depositors and ensure good governance, read the BB letter sent to Exim Bank Managing Director Mohammad Feroz Hossain.

Earlier, BB reconstituted the boards of National Bank, Islami Bank Bangladesh, Social Islami Bank, Global Islami Bank, Union Bank and United Commercial Bank.

The central bank plans to reconstitute the boards of more few ailing banks in the next weeks.