The Financial Institutions Division on Tuesday appointed Mir Nadia Nivin as chairman of the Insurance Development and Regulatory Authority (IDRA) for a three-year term.
With her appointment, the insurance regulator got its first female chairman.
An internationally recognised governance and development specialist, Nivin brings more than 20 years of professional experience, including 17 years with the United Nations (UN).
She worked closely with government and private-sector stakeholders in Afghanistan, Myanmar, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Germany and at the headquarters of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in New York.
Her expertise spans microinsurance, corporate governance, institutional reform, financial management and risk management.
She led the design and implementation of innovative microinsurance and risk-sharing initiatives for micro, small and medium enterprises in several countries, helping reduce economic vulnerabilities and promote inclusive growth.
Nivin also has extensive experience managing large financial funds and multilateral development projects.
She served as a member of Bangladesh’s Election Reform Commission in 2024-25 and most recently was an independent director of Delta Life Insurance Company.
She holds a Master of Public Administration from the John F Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and a Master of Science in Computer Science from California State University, Sacramento.
Industry observers expect her international experience and reform-oriented background to support ongoing efforts to strengthen governance, regulatory oversight and market development in Bangladesh’s insurance sector.
