The government has initiated the recruitment process for the Managing Director (MD) of the newly formed state-owned Sammilito Islami Bank, with the first round of interviews conducted at Bangladesh Bank on Wednesday.
According to central bank sources, six bankers appeared for the interview on the first day. The selection panel included Bangladesh Bank Governor Md Mostaqur Rahman and Financial Institutions Division Secretary Nazma Mobarek.
Among the candidates interviewed was Humayun Kabir, a former executive director of Bangladesh Bank. Following the dissolution of Union Bank’s board in 2024, he had been appointed as that bank’s MD.
Also interviewed was Zafar Alam, the former MD of Social Islami Bank (SIBL). Alam served as SIBL’s MD during the period of S Alam Group’s control and remained in the post for a period after the new board took over in August 2024.
The list of interviewees also included Nuruddin Md Sadeque, the former MD of the private Southeast Bank, who was forced to resign during the tenure of the interim government following the ’24 movement’. His resignation coincided with a change in the bank’s chairmanship.
Other candidates appearing on Wednesday were Zakir Hossain, Senior Executive Vice President (SEVP) of Islami Bank Bangladesh; Rafiqul Islam, former MD of Shimanto Bank; and Mohammad Kamruzzaman, the head of the National Bank of Pakistan’s Bangladesh operations.
The pool of applicants also features former MDs of various banks that were restructured during the interim government’s tenure, some of whom were later sent on mandatory leave by their new boards.
Arief Hossain Khan, Executive Director and spokesperson of Bangladesh Bank, stated, “The MD position of the merged bank is vacant. Interviews for the applicants began on Wednesday”.
A total of 12 bankers have been shortlisted for the position. Sources confirmed that the remaining candidates will be interviewed during the second session on Thursday.
The committee responsible for the MD recruitment also includes Ashraful Alam, Executive Director of Bangladesh Bank, and Azimuddin Biswas, Additional Secretary of the Financial Institutions Division.
