From now on, the chief executive officer (CEO) of any financial institution has to take permission from the Bangladesh Bank before leaving the country. 

Bangladesh Bank in a circular on Monday made this mandatory provision. Earlier, a similar provision was made for the CEOs of the banks operating across the country.    

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The central bank circular, issued by the Financial Institutions and Market Department, said that if any CEO of a financial institution stays outside the country for a long period of time for official work or enjoying personal leave, it may create potential management and operational risk including financial loss alongside decreasing overall institutional pace which is not expected anyway. 

Against this backdrop, the BB said, the CEOs of the financial institutions are advised to avoid staying outside Bangladesh for a long period of time as far as possible. 

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“The CEO of a financial institution operating in Bangladesh, if required to travel abroad, has to take the approval of Bangladesh Bank before leaving the country. In this case, the CEO will apply to Bangladesh Bank for the approval before 15 days of the travel attaching a copy of the decision of the board of directors of the concerned institution.

The application must have necessary and detail information about the applicant including his and his institution’s names, national ID number, passport number, purpose of the visit, approximate expense of the travel, proposed time of the travel, address in abroad, and the information of last traveling.    

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If the application is approved by the Bangladesh Bank, the CEO will inform the secretariat of Bangladesh Bank Governor and Financial Institutions and Market Department as who will act as acting CEO during his absence mentioning his name, position, official phone number, cell phone number, email address, said the BB circular.