Melita Mehjabeen made new National Bank chair, replacing Minister Abdul Awal Mintoo

Professor Dr Melita Mehjabeen has been elected as the new chairman of the board of directors of National Bank PLC, replacing Abdul Awal Mintoo, minister for environment, forest and climate change.

The decision was taken at the bank's 539th meeting of the board of directors held on 28 February, according to information published on the bank's official website.

Dr Mehjabeen, who previously served as an independent director of the bank, assumed the role with immediate effect.

Abdul Awal Mintoo, elected member of parliament (MP) from Feni-3, stepped down from the position as MPs are not permitted to hold the chairmanship of a bank, prompting the board to appoint a new chairman.

The newly elected chairman, Dr Mehjabeen is currently the independent director of Grameen Phone, British American Tobacco, Bangladesh and Unilever Consumer Care Limited.

Dr Mejabeen completed her bachelor's and master's from IBA and joined the institute in 2009 as a lecturer.

A commonwealth scholar, she completed her PhD from the Alliance Manchester Business School, University of Manchester, UK, in accounting and finance. She also has a master's in development studies from the University of Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Before entering academia, she worked in the corporate sector for five years, serving at British American Tobacco, Bangladesh and Citibank, NA.

In August 2024, the Bangladesh Bank dissolved the board of directors of the National Bank on the grounds of numerous irregularities for the third time.

According to an order issued by then governor Ahsan H Mansur, the banking regulator dissolved the National Bank's board to protect the depositors' money and public interest.

The order states that the National Bank board is involved in activities contrary to the interests of the bank company and depositors by disrupting the financial condition of the bank due to policy-making weakness.

Besides, the central bank had formed a new seven-member board, which has three directors and four independent directors.

The three directors were shareholders of the bank, BNP Vice-Chairman Abdul Awal Mintoo, Moazzem Hossain and Zakaria Taher.

Previously, The Business Standard reported that the National Bank had been forced to waive Tk2,310 crore in interest on loans to S Alam Group, a conglomerate closely tied to the ousted Hasina government and various affiliated companies.

On 22 December 2021, the central bank wrote to the then-managing director of the National Bank, instructing him to waive the interest on loans taken by various companies of S Alam Group and to restructure the remaining loans.

The Bangladesh Bank sent separate letters to each of the borrowing companies, and The Business Standard has seen six such letters.