Sonali Bank chair quits

Prof AHM Habibur Rahman has stepped down as chairman of the Sonali Bank Limited on 'personal grounds'-over eight months before end of his tenure.

"Yes, I (have) submitted the resignation letter to the Bank and Financial Institutions Division of the ministry of finance on Sunday," the former university teacher told the FE Monday in reply to a query.

He also said he had tried to improve the overall financial health of the state-owned bank during his tenure, which was to last until December 26.

Prof Rahman, a former Dean of Dhaka University's Business Faculty, took the charge as chairman of the largest state-owned commercial bank on December 27, 2012.

He took retirement from the DU in 2000 and joined Prime Asia University as Dean of Business Faculty of the private varsity before taking over the charge at the state bank.

A bdnews24.com report adds: Even though Habibur Rahman showed personal reason for his resignation, a director of the bank hinted that differences had cropped up between the board of directors and management authorities over recommendations and implementation of policies.

Amid the Hall-Mark scam, the former teacher of Dhaka University was appointed chairman of Sonali Bank.

Asked about the reason, Selima Ahmed, a member of the Board, said: "The Board prepares policies for the bank's growth and the management implements them.

"But due to lack of efficiency and sincerity of the management authorities, the policies prepared by the Board are not implemented properly. In many cases, management authorities did not pay heed to the directives given by the Board." She also said the bank was recovering from the loss incurred due to the Hall-Mark scam. But the recovery process slowed due to the inefficiencies of the management.

Several calls made to Managing Director of the bank Pradip Kumar Dutta to learn more about the matter went unanswered.

    siddique.islam@gmail.com