BB governor Atiur quits

Resignation to protect central bank�s image after cyber heist, he says

Bangladesh Bank governor Dr Atiur Rahman  resigned yesterday in the face of criticism over the heist of $101 million from the Bangladesh Bank's account with the US Federal Reserve Bank. This is the first incident of resignation of a central bank governor before the end of his tenure. Rumour of his resignation was rife since Monday evening when he returned from India. Atiur who served as the BB chief for the last 7 years met prime minister Sheikh Hasina at her office in the morning and submitted his resignation to her.
 “I resigned on my own like a hero to save the Bangladesh Bank’s image I built over the last seven years,” he told reporters at a press briefing at his Gulshan residence hours after his resignation. Two deputy governors of Bangladesh Bank have been removed and bank division secretary Dr M Aslam Alam has been made an officer on special duty (OSD) over the cyber heist. Talking to the media at the briefing Dr Atiur said he opted to quit out of moral responsibility over the heist of central bank’s money.
He said it took some time for Bangladesh Bank to understand the stealing. “There was some lacking in our understanding. But more importantly, I tried to fence what we had left and prevent any further damage.”  “It took us some time to disclose the matter. But, what we have done was according to protocol,” he said, and added that the government was knocked after the bank had a better understanding and control over the situation.  “It was a very high-tech incident of cyber attack. We couldn’t understand it in the first place. But this incident has a lot of positive sides. We can turn a crisis into opportunity.”
He also demanded proper investigation of the incident and wished for punishment of the perpetrators.

Defending himself for not informing the finance minister about the money heist, he said he took some time since it was like a "terrorist attack" on the country's banking sector after the ATM fraud.  "But whatever I did, I did in the interest of the country as I didn't want the incident to create any panic in the banking sector," he added.
The academician-turned-banker was given the job on May 1, 2008, after the Awami League came to power.
After a four-year term, the government decided to extend it by another four years that was to end on Aug 2 this year.
During Atiur’s time in the central bank, Bangladesh saw its inflation going down and forex reserve growing by more than four times to $28 billion since 2008.
The incident came to light when Philippine’s Daily Inquirer ran a report on Feb 29 that the country was probing a money laundering incident involving cross-border electronic funds transfer.
It said that $81 million was wire-transferred on Feb 4 from the Bangladesh Bank’s US account to accounts in local  banks. Bangladesh Bank kept the government and its board of directors in the dark about the heist for around a month. Muhith first learnt of the matter from media reports.
He lashed out at the bank on Sunday vowing action for having ‘the audacity not to inform him about the issue’. “Very incompetent,” he described the central bank. Before his appointment as BB governor, Dr Atiur was a professor in the department of Development Studies at Dhaka University. Before that he had worked at the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies in different capacities for nearly 28 years and retired as Senior Research Fellow on 4 April 2006. He also served as director of the state-owned Sonali Bank,the largest in Bangladesh.In 2001, government appointed him as the Chairman of the board of directors of the Janata Bank, the second-largest in the country. In 1994, he established a development NGO under the title Unnayan Samannay. He was the chairman of the board of Trustees of Shamunnay until taking up the job of the governor of Bangladesh. As Governor of Central Bank of Bangladesh, he took steps in developing his country’s economy by developing programs such as a women entrepreneur’s loan, a loan for landless farmer and special programs around Green Finance.

 

 

BB governor Atiur quits

Resignation to protect central bank�s image after cyber heist, he says

Bangladesh Bank governor Dr Atiur Rahman resigned yesterday in the face of criticism over the heist of $101 million from the Bangladesh Banks account with the US Federal Reserve Bank. This is the first incident of resignation of a central bank governor before the end of his tenure. Rumour of his resignation was rife since Monday evening when he returned from India. Atiur who served as the BB chief for the last 7 years met prime minister Sheikh Hasina at her office in the morning and submitted his resignation to her. I resigned on my own like a hero to save the Bangladesh Banks image I built over the last seven years, he told reporters at a press briefing at his Gulshan residence hours after his resignation. Two deputy governors of Bangladesh Bank have been removed and bank division secretary Dr M Aslam Alam has been made an officer on special duty (OSD) over the cyber heist. Talking to the media at the briefing Dr Atiur said he opted to quit out of moral responsibility over the heist of central banks money. He said it took some time for Bangladesh Bank to understand the stealing. There was some lacking in our understanding. But more importantly, I tried to fence what we had left and prevent any further damage. It took us some time to disclose the matter. But, what we have done was according to protocol, he said, and added that the government was knocked after the bank had a better understanding and control over the situation. It was a very high-tech incident of cyber attack. We couldnt understand it in the first place. But this incident has a lot of positive sides. We can turn a crisis into opportunity. He also demanded proper investigation of the incident and wished for punishment of the perpetrators. Defending himself for not informing the finance minister about the money heist, he said he took some time since it was like a terrorist attack on the countrys banking sector after the ATM fraud. But whatever I did, I did in the interest of the country as I didnt want the incident to create any panic in the banking sector, he added. The academician-turned-banker was given the job on May 1, 2008, after the Awami League came to power. After a four-year term, the government decided to extend it by another four years that was to end on Aug 2 this year. During Atiurs time in the central bank, Bangladesh saw its inflation going down and forex reserve growing by more than four times to $28 billion since 2008. The incident came to light when Philippines Daily Inquirer ran a report on Feb 29 that the country was probing a money laundering incident involving cross-border electronic funds transfer. It said that $81 million was wire-transferred on Feb 4 from the Bangladesh Banks US account to accounts in local banks. Bangladesh Bank kept the government and its board of directors in the dark about the heist for around a month. Muhith first learnt of the matter from media reports. He lashed out at the bank on Sunday vowing action for having the audacity not to inform him about the issue. Very incompetent, he described the central bank. Before his appointment as BB governor, Dr Atiur was a professor in the department of Development Studies at Dhaka University. Before that he had worked at the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies in different capacities for nearly 28 years and retired as Senior Research Fellow on 4 April 2006. He also served as director of the state-owned Sonali Bank,the largest in Bangladesh.In 2001, government appointed him as the Chairman of the board of directors of the Janata Bank, the second-largest in the country. In 1994, he established a development NGO under the title Unnayan Samannay. He was the chairman of the board of Trustees of Shamunnay until taking up the job of the governor of Bangladesh. As Governor of Central Bank of Bangladesh, he took steps in developing his countrys economy by developing programs such as a women entrepreneurs loan, a loan for landless farmer and special programs around Green Finance.