Bangladesh Bank Finds Major Irregularities in Islami Bank Recruitment Process

Bangladesh Bank has identified significant deviations from Islami Bank Bangladesh PLC’s established recruitment procedures during the period from 2017 to August 2024.

According to a recent inspection report, the bank recruited 10,832 employees during the period, including 8,542 who were allegedly appointed without publishing recruitment advertisements in national newspapers.

The inspection report has reportedly been submitted to the Governor of Bangladesh Bank. It documents several instances in which established procedures involving recruitment advertisements, written examinations, oral examinations, and candidate selection were not followed.

According to Bangladesh Bank data, Islami Bank had 21,551 employees as of August 31, 2024. Between 2017 and August 31, 2024, a total of 10,832 employees were recruited. Of them, 466 entered through lateral recruitment, while 10,336 were recruited at entry level.

Recruitment Rules Were Changed
Under the bank’s existing recruitment policy, vacancies were required to be advertised in at least two national newspapers, with applicants given at least 15 days to apply. Candidates were also required to take written and oral examinations, with a minimum score of 50 percent in both examinations.

The Bangladesh Bank inspection report said changes were subsequently introduced to Islami Bank’s human resources policy.

Under Clause 7.04, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer were given authority to recruit employees at entry and lateral-entry levels in cases of “urgent need,” with certain formalities allowed to be relaxed.

The central bank’s observations indicate that this provision was used in a manner that resulted in the regular recruitment requirements under Clause 7.01 not being followed in a number of cases.

The report also noted that while such provisions are generally intended for limited lateral recruitment or specialised positions during urgent situations, more than 6,000 employees were recruited at the probationary level under the arrangement.

Large Number of Recruits From Chattogram
According to information obtained during the Bangladesh Bank inspection, 8,099 of the employees recruited during the period when S Alam Group controlled Islami Bank were from Chattogram Division.

Of them, 5,148 were residents of Patiya, according to the report.

The report observed that the absence of recruitment advertisements limited opportunities for candidates from other parts of the country to apply and compete for the positions.

CV Collection Through Designated Boxes
According to information provided by Islami Bank during the inspection, boxes were placed at the Patiya residence of the chairman of S Alam Group and at the group’s Asadganj office in Chattogram to collect large numbers of CVs.

The boxes reportedly carried labels such as “Patiya General,” “Patiya Cash,” “Male General-Satkania-Lohagara,” “Male Cash-Gandamara-Banshkhali,” “Female-Cash,” “Women” and “Diploma.”

According to the information provided to the central bank, selected candidates from the CVs were subsequently sent to the bank’s head office, from where appointment letters were issued.

Irregularities in Probationary Officer Recruitment
The Bangladesh Bank inspection also found deviations from recruitment rules in the 24th batch among Islami Bank’s 26 probationary officer batches.

At the beginning of 2019, a list of 840 candidates from Chattogram was sent to the bank’s head office. The Banking and Insurance Department of the University of Dhaka was later assigned responsibility for conducting a written examination. A total of 763 candidates took part in the examination.

Under the bank’s rules, the passing mark was 50 percent. However, only 36 candidates achieved that score. The passing mark was subsequently reduced to 20 percent, after which 552 candidates were called for oral examinations.

A total of 304 candidates passed the oral examination. In addition, 12 candidates were reportedly included in the selection process through oral examinations without taking the written examination.

Ultimately, 190 candidates were appointed to Islami Bank, of whom 184 subsequently joined. Another 126 candidates were sent to First Security Islami Bank, according to the report.

Thousands Recruited Without Newspaper Advertisements
The Bangladesh Bank report said that between 2017 and 2024, Islami Bank recruited 2,232 Trainee Assistant Officers (General), 2,828 Trainee Assistant Officers (Cash) and 501 Trainee Junior Officers without publishing recruitment advertisements in national newspapers.

During the same period, 466 employees were recruited through lateral entry, including 264 candidates from Chattogram district.

During the inspection, written statements were also collected from 10 officials who were working in Dhaka during the period under review.

All of them reportedly stated that they had submitted CVs and obtained employment through oral examinations without taking written tests. Two officials reportedly stated that they did not take part in any oral examination either.

Questions Over Senior-Level Promotions
The inspection also identified deviations from recruitment and promotion requirements in the appointment or promotion of senior officials.

Under Islami Bank’s rules, candidates for the position of Deputy Managing Director (DMD) were required to have at least two years of experience in their previous position and a total of 20 years of professional experience.

The inspection report stated that Akij Uddin, identified as a personal assistant to S Alam, was promoted to DMD with eight years of banking experience. His experience in the position immediately preceding the DMD post was reportedly one year and four months.

Another DMD, Miftah Uddin, reportedly had 17 years of total experience and one year of experience in his previous position, according to the report.

Bangladesh Bank Response
Bangladesh Bank spokesperson Arif Hossain Khan said the central bank is not directly involved in the internal recruitment processes of individual banks.

He said such recruitment is primarily an internal matter of the respective bank, although Bangladesh Bank, as the banking sector regulator, takes action when necessary.

He added that after reviewing the inspection findings, appropriate measures and directives would be issued if irregularities were established.

Special Competency Test
Following findings in Bangladesh Bank and external audit reports concerning the recruitment process between 2017 and 2024, Islami Bank decided to conduct a special competency assessment for employees recruited during the period.

The examination was organised through the Institute of Business Administration (IBA) of the University of Dhaka on September 27, 2025.

According to bank data, 402 out of 5,373 officials took part in the examination, and all participants passed.

The remaining 4,972 officials did not participate in the examination.

The bank alleged that some employees who refused to take part in the test obstructed or intimidated colleagues who were willing to participate. The bank also alleged that some of them organised work stoppages, demonstrations, human chains and press conferences and disseminated misleading information about the bank.

The bank subsequently decided to terminate 4,685 employees in accordance with its human resources policy, providing them with three months’ salary as compensation.

Islami Bank Acting Managing Director Altaf Hossain said the employees were not terminated simply on the basis of whether their appointments were valid or invalid.

He said the required formalities under the bank’s service rules had not been followed when they were recruited.

According to him, the special competency test was arranged to provide an opportunity to complete the recruitment process. However, the concerned employees did not participate in the examination and allegedly prevented others from doing so. The bank therefore took action against them for challenging and obstructing the process.