National Citizen Party (NCP) leader and lawmaker from Cumilla-4 Hasnat Abdullah has accused the government of weakening proposed bank reforms, alleging that changes could allow oligarch-linked families to retain long-term control over banks.

In a Facebook post, Hasnat on Sunday said rules had previously limited a single family to two directors on a bank’s board and restricted an individual director’s consecutive tenure to six years.

He alleged that the rules were relaxed during the Awami League government led by Sheikh Hasina to create opportunities for oligarchs loyal to her to gain greater control of banks.

According to Hasnat, the director's tenure was extended to nine years in 2018, while up to four members of the same family were allowed to sit on a bank’s board. Although the family limit was reduced to three in 2023, the maximum tenure was increased further to 12 years.

Economist Ahsan H Mansur had strongly criticised those changes at the time, Hasnat said.

After Hasina fled Bangladesh following the student-led uprising, Mansur was appointed governor of Bangladesh Bank. Under his leadership, reform proposals sought to restore the earlier restrictions, including limiting a family to two directors and restricting consecutive tenure to six years.

The proposals also called for at least 50% of bank boards to comprise independent directors. They further sought to make directors accountable for defaulted loans involving companies in which they had interests.

Hasnat alleged that after the BNP came to power, Mansur was forced out of Bangladesh Bank amid what he described as “mob pressure”. He also criticised the appointment of a businessman as governor, noting that the new governor had previously served on the BNP’s election management committee. He further pointed to the appointment of businessman Amir Khosru as finance minister.

Hasnat alleged that the Finance Ministry is now rejecting Bangladesh Bank’s proposed reforms and seeking to retain the provision allowing three members of the same family to serve on a bank’s board. Under the proposed changes, the maximum tenure would be nine years instead of the six years proposed by Bangladesh Bank. 

He also alleged that provisions concerning defaulted loans involving directors’ affiliated businesses would be dropped, while the waiting period for a director removed over a loan default to return to a board would be reduced from one year to six months.

“The BNP is bringing back the same rules introduced during the Hasina era that expanded the scope for oligarch families to maintain long-term control over banks,” Hasnat wrote.

He said the move would render the reform efforts of Mansur and the interim government meaningless.

“Banks operate with people’s deposits. They are not the private estates of any family,” Hasnat said, arguing that the proposed rollback could simply shift control of banks from Awami League-linked oligarch families to BNP-linked or newly emerging BNP-aligned business families.

The post came amid reports that the Finance Ministry has softened proposed amendments to the Bank Company Act aimed at curbing family control. 

The ministry reportedly rejected Bangladesh Bank’s proposal to reduce family representation from three directors to two and cut the maximum consecutive tenure from 12 years to six. Instead, the ministry wants to retain the three-member family limit while reducing the tenure to nine years. The ministry is also considering relaxing rules concerning directors linked to defaulted loans and changes to Bangladesh Bank’s authority to dissolve bank boards.