M Zubaidur Rahman has resigned as chairman of Islami Bank Bangladesh PLC, citing personal reasons, Bangladesh Bank spokesperson Arief Hossain Khan confirmed to TIMES of Bangladesh.
He submitted his resignation letter to Bangladesh Bank Governor Md Mostaqur Rahman on Sunday.
At the same day Bangladesh Bank appointed former deputy governor Md Khurshid Alam as new chairman of the bank.
Zubaidur Rahman was appointed as an independent director of the Shariah-based bank on 23 July last year and had been serving as chairman of the board since then. He succeeded Obayed Ullah Al Masud, who resigned amid an investigation into alleged financial irregularities.
Officials at Bangladesh Bank and Islami Bank said differences had recently emerged between the central bank’s top leadership and several senior officials of Islami Bank, including the chairman and Managing Director Omar Faruk Khan. Amid tensions, Omar Faruk Khan was placed on 49 days of mandatory leave, while chairman Zubaidur Rahman travelled abroad for one and a half months, remaining connected to board meetings online.
Sources said pressure had mounted on Omar Faruk Khan to resign during this period. A scheduled board meeting at the bank’s head office on Sunday was cancelled due to what the bank described as “unavoidable circumstances.” Since Sunday morning, a group identifying themselves as customers, along with some bank officials, staged demonstrations outside the head office demanding that Omar Faruk Khan not be forced to resign and calling for the chairman’s resignation instead.
Later in the day, Zubaidur Rahman submitted his resignation directly to Bangladesh Bank, while a source claimed that Managing Director Omar Faruk Khan had also tendered his resignation to the board. Under banking regulations, an MD’s resignation requires board approval to become effective.
Repeated attempts to contact both Zubaidur Rahman and Omar Faruk Khan for comment were unsuccessful.
Zubaidur Rahman began his career in 1975 as a lecturer in the Finance Department of the University of Dhaka and later earned a PhD in finance from the University of Manchester. Over the years, he held senior academic positions in several countries, including as professor at State University of New York and visiting professor at Bocconi University and Moscow State University, and also worked for the World Bank for an extended period.
In 2017, the controversial S Alam Group took control of Islami Bank. After the fall of the Awami League government following the July uprising, Bangladesh Bank removed individuals linked to the conglomerate and handed control of the bank to independent directors.
