Islami Bank Bangladesh recruited 8,542 people without issuing recruitment notices or holding competitive examinations during the period when the bank was under the control of S Alam Group, according to a special inspection report by Bangladesh Bank.
The report said a total of 10,832 people were recruited by the bank between 2017 and August 2024. Of those, 8,542 were appointed without the competitive recruitment process prescribed under the bank’s human resources policy.
The geographical distribution of the recruits has also drawn attention. Of the 8,542 people recruited without examinations, 8,099 were from Chattogram district. Among them, 5,148 were residents of Patiya upazila, according to the Bangladesh Bank report.
The inspection found that boxes had reportedly been placed at the Patiya residence of the S Alam Group chairman and at the group’s office in Asadganj, Chattogram, where people could submit CVs for different positions.
Recruitment rules allegedly bypassed
Islami Bank’s human resources policy requires recruitment notices to be published before eligible candidates are selected through written and oral examinations. However, Bangladesh Bank’s inspection found that recruitment to 27 positions was carried out without advertisements or competitive examinations.
Among the largest groups recruited through this process were 2,789 trainee assistant officers (cash), 2,160 trainee assistant officers, 1,544 messenger-cum-guards and 915 employees for the RDS project.
The report also identified irregularities involving senior management appointments. It said two managing directors, eight deputy managing directors, two senior executive vice-presidents and four executive vice-presidents were appointed without recruitment notices.
In some cases involving deputy managing director positions, the required experience criteria were also not met, according to the inspection findings.
District concentration among recruits
The recruitment pattern was heavily concentrated in Chattogram. After Chattogram, the largest numbers of recruits without examinations came from Cox’s Bazar, with 398 people, followed by Cumilla with 114, Mymensingh with 99, Bogura with 97 and Dhaka with 96.
People from other districts were also recruited, although the report indicates that their numbers were considerably smaller than those from Chattogram.
Bangladesh Bank inspectors also interviewed 10 officials selected on a random basis. Some of those officials told the inspection team that CVs were submitted at boxes placed at the Patiya residence and the Asadganj office, after which oral interviews and other recruitment-related activities were conducted at those locations.
Questions over probationary officer appointments
The inspection report also raised questions about the recruitment of probationary officers.
According to the report, 190 people were appointed to the bank’s 24th batch of probationary officers in 2019 without a recruitment advertisement. Twelve of those recruits were appointed without taking part in the written examination.
A substantial portion of those recruited through the process subsequently lost their jobs, the report said.
The inspection report, however, distinguished these appointments from other recruitment exercises. It found that the appointment of 144 probationary officers in 2017 and 200 probationary officers in 2024 followed the proper recruitment process.
Assessment and subsequent dismissals
Following the change in circumstances after 5 August 2024, several inspections and audits identified irregularities in the bank’s recruitment process. The Islami Bank board subsequently decided to assess the qualifications of people recruited during the period under review.
An assessment examination was held in 2025. A total of 402 people took part, and all of them retained their jobs. Another 4,971 employees did not participate in the assessment.
According to the report, the bank’s management later decided to dismiss 4,685 employees. Islami Bank’s acting managing director, Md Altaf Hossain, said the employees had been dismissed after following the appropriate procedures.
Bangladesh Bank spokesperson and executive director Arif Hossain Khan said recruitment and dismissal of employees were matters for the bank’s own management. He said Islami Bank authorities had taken the decisions themselves and that intervention by the central bank would not be appropriate.
The Bangladesh Bank inspection report therefore highlights significant differences between Islami Bank’s prescribed recruitment procedures and the processes followed during the period under review. It also documents the subsequent attempts by the bank to assess the qualifications of employees recruited during that period and the employment decisions that followed.