‘Board of directors, CEOs play significant roles in banks’

The board of directors and chief executive officers play a very significant role in the banks' overall performance, Bangladesh Bank Governor Abdur Rouf Talukder said today.

The separation and independence of management in its business decision and execution of the banking activities are expected to run smoothly and would be in support of the boards in an ideal scenario, he said.

He came up with the remarks at a discussion titled "Twenty-first Nurul Matin Memorial Lecture on Ethics in Banking" held at the auditorium of the Bangladesh Institute of Bank Management (BIBM).

Talukder, also the chairman of the BIBM governing board, presided over the discussion.

The governor has addressed the issue at a time when the management of banks are struggling to take decision independently due to the intervention of directors of the lenders.

In his keynote speech, AKM Saiful Majid, chairman of the board of directors of Grameen Bank, said bad management in the banking industry of Bangladesh has given rise to unethical banking practices in the country.

In Bangladesh multiple incidences of bank failures occurred over the last three decades due to unethical banking practices, he said.

Nurul Matin was born in 1928. He joined the research department of the State Bank of Pakistan in 1951 as an officer and, subsequently, his services were placed in the operational departments of the bank in 1963.

During his long banking career, Matin occupied many senior positions, including secretary to the Board of State Bank of Pakistan, executive director of Equity Participation Fund, managing director and chairman of Bangladesh Shilpa Bank and deputy governor of Bangladesh Bank.

He also worked as the director of BIBM. BIBM initiated this memorial lecture programme in 1998 to enhance the ethical value of bankers.