A person convicted on criminal charges or found involved in forgeries, financial crimes or other irregular activities would be barred from sitting on a bank board.

The bank reforms committee (BRC), headed by Professor Wahiduddin Mahmud, made the recommendation to ensure good corporate governance in banks. The committee was formed last year to suggest ways of reducing huge default loans.

The committee also suggested

that a person would be disqualified to be a bank director if any court passed any adverse comment or observation about them in any civil or criminal case. The same rule would apply to a person declared bankrupt by any court.

A director would need to hold least a bachelor's degree or its equivalent from a reputed university and 10 years of management or professional experience, the committee suggested.

A person with any track record of breaking any rules, regulations or notifications of any regulatory body would also be barred from becoming bank director.

A bank board would have a maximum of 11 members and the Bangladesh Bank (BB) can appoint two of them from a panel of depositors. A committee headed by the BB governor would prepare the panel of depositors.

A bank cannot have more than one member of a family on its board and a director can hold the post for a maximum six years. They have to keep away from the board for at least two years to be reelected.

A person cannot be chairman of a bank for more than three years and would need a two-year break to be reelected.

The bank directors will have to inform the Bangladesh Bank and the their boards annually about the enterprises in which they have business interests.

Moreover, they will have to submit an annual undertaking stating that they have not defaulted on loans taken from any bank or financial institutions.