Islami Bank Chairman Obayed Ullah Al Masud resigns

Md Obayed Ullah Al Masud has stepped down from his position as chairman of Islami Bank Bangladesh PLC, ending his tenure nearly 11 months after assuming the role.

He submitted his resignation to the board of directors on Thursday.

Earlier, on July 3, the deputy governor of the central bank, Dr. Md. Kabir Ahmed, called him and asked him to resign.

His appointment came in the wake of the July Uprising, which resulted in the ousting of Sheikh Hasina and the subsequent dissolution of the Islami Bank Board of Directors. On 24 August last year, the reconstituted board welcomed five new independent directors, with Masud being appointed as chairman.

After becoming chairman, the central bank recently received various allegations against him. On 3 July, Md Kabir Ahmed, the Deputy Governor in charge of the Banking Regulations and Policy Department (BRPD) of Bangladesh Bank, urgently summoned Islami Bank Chairman Obayed Ullah Al Masud. At that time, he was asked to resign from his position.

According to sources, instead of resigning, Obayed Ullah Al Masud began lobbying with various parties to remain in his post. Meanwhile, on 15 July, the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU) summoned the bank account details of Masud and his family members. The next day, 16 July, the BFIU conducted a special operation at Islami Bank.

As part of the operation, the BFIU collected information on the benefits Masud received from Islami Bank since August last year. They also inquired whether the bank bore any expenses for his recent one-month trip to the United States, and if so, under what budget head those expenses were listed.

It has been revealed that Obayed Ullah Al Masud traveled to the United States for a month without formally informing the Board of Directors or Bangladesh Bank. He did not submit any official memo to the board regarding the trip, merely informing them verbally that he would be meeting with an international bank to discuss credit line issues.

However, without a formal invitation, it is unusual for a bank chairman to attend such management-level meetings. Generally, such operational meetings are handled by the bank’s management, while the board focuses on policy-making.