Bangladesh Bank has dissolved the board of directors of the private sector Premier Bank and formed a new board. The new board includes one shareholder director and five independent directors. With this, the family members of former Awami League MP H.B.M. Iqbal have been removed from the bank's board of directors.

Bangladesh Bank informed Premier Bank of this decision in a letter on Tuesday. Bangladesh Bank Governor Ahsan H. Mansur told "I hope the new board of directors will do well."

Arifur Rahman, the bank's entrepreneurial shareholder, has been appointed as a director on the new board of Premier Bank. The five independent directors are former executive director of Bangladesh Bank Md. Forkan Hossain, former additional managing director of United Commercial Bank Syed Faridul Islam, former deputy managing director of Bank Asia Md. Sajjad Hossain, professor of the Institute of Business Administration (IBA) of Dhaka University Sheikh Morshed Jahan and chartered secretary M Nurul Alam. Nurul Alam has been appointed as an independent director of Premier Bank on the condition of resigning from the post of independent director of Prime Insurance.

It is learned that Arifur Rahman, a shareholder director of Premier Bank, was engaged in medical services in the Middle East for more than three decades.

In February this year, former Awami League MP Hefzul Bari Mohammad Iqbal (HBM Iqbal) resigned as chairman of Premier Bank. At that time, his son and vice chairman of the bank, Moin Iqbal, also resigned. Along with the chairman and vice chairman, they also left the directorship. However, his other son Mohammad Imran Iqbal was the chairman of the bank. HBM Iqbal had been serving as the chairman since the bank was established in 1999.

HBM Iqbal withdrew money from a frozen bank account in April this year. Premier Bank, which he owns, gave him the opportunity to withdraw the money. It is learned that as a result of this, the central bank decided to dissolve the board of Premier Bank.

In addition to owning the bank, HBM Iqbal is involved in various businesses. He is the chairman of the Premier Group. Under the group, there are various businesses including five-star hotels, restaurants, cement production, medical centers, etc. He has also established several educational institutions in the country. In addition to being the chairman of Premier Bank for a long time by abusing his power, there are also allegations of various financial irregularities against HBM Iqbal.