Areef Billah Adil ChowdhuryAB Bank PLC announced the appointment of Mr. Areef Billah Adil Chowdhury as its new Managing Director on August 19, 2026. A Seasoned leader with a proven record of stability and transformation to guide the Bank’s next chapter. The decision according to the Board, reflects its commitment to strong, steady leadership as the Bank moves into its next phase of recovery & growth.
Mr. Chowdhury brings nearly three decades of international banking experience across Bangladesh, Hong Kong and Singapore, having held senior leadership roles at National Bank PLC, Bank Asia PLC, Scotiabank, American Express Bank and Crédit Agricole Indosuez. Throughout his career, he has built a reputation as a steady hand in challenging environments — known for restoring confidence, strengthening organizations and delivering results with discipline and integrity.
At National Bank PLC, where he most recently served as Managing Director, Mr. Chowdhury led the institution through a period of significant difficulty, focusing on rebuilding trust with depositors, resolving non-performing assets, and reinforcing governance and regulatory compliance. Under his leadership, the bank also modernized its core technology — upgrading its Temenos Core Banking System and achieving ISO 27001:2022 certification for information security — while carrying out operational reforms designed for long-term resilience.
Earlier, as President and Managing Director of Bank Asia PLC, he led a comprehensive strengthening of the institution’s foundations, including capital enhancement, centralization of key operations, and the establishment of dedicated risk and asset-management functions.
With a demonstrated ability to guide institutions through periods of change while protecting what matters most to depositors and stakeholders, Mr. Chowdhury’s appointment signals AB Bank’s continued commitment to sound governance, prudent management and dependable service.
Reazul Islam, AMDReazul Islam has joined AB Bank on August 15, 2024 as Additional Managing Director (AMD). Mr. Islam has over 29 years of experience with leadership qualities, regulatory management, banking and professional services.
Mr. Reazul Islam, earlier joined AB Bank as VP and Head of IT in January 2006. Later on, he elevated his promotion respectively and at last he reared his responsibility as the position of DMD of the bank from the year 2019 to 2021. After that, he worked in various leading organizations as an independent IT consultant.
Mr. Islam has completed his Bachelor of Science (BSc) from Southern Oklahoma State University, Oklahoma in 1987 has completed certification in Business from American Graduate School of International Management (Thunderbird), Arizona, USA in 1999.
Mahadev Sarker Sumon FCA, AMDMr. Mahadev Sarker Sumon, FCA, joined AB Bank as Additional Managing Director (AMD) on February 4, 2025. He has also been appointed as the Chief Risk Officer (CRO).
Mr. Sarker has 28 years of extensive experience in Banking, Finance, Audit and Accountancy including a mentionable 19 years tenure with AB Bank in Leadership role such as Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Company Secretary, Head of Investment Banking, Head of Special Asset Management and Special Projects on Recovery.
Mr. Sarker completed his post-graduation in Management and is a Fellow member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh (ICAB).
Mr. Sarker attended different training programs, workshops, seminars in home and abroad. He also completed a certification course on Basel II.
Z M Babar Khan, AMDMr. Zahir Uddin Mohammad Babar Khan has been promoted to Additional Managing Director of AB Bank PLC. Since joining the bank as a Probationary Officer in 1989, he has held key roles as Head of Departments and Branch Manager in various locations. Prior to his promotion, he served as Deputy Managing Director.
Mr. Khan pursued his education in Muslim High School, Chittagong College and lastly, he obtained his Post Graduation Degree with 1st Class in Department of Management from the University of Chittagong.
To enrich his professional career, he attended a number of trainings and seminars held in Germany, Japan, China, Hong Kong, Malaysia and India.
Iftekhar Enam Awal, DMDMr. Iftekhar Enam Awal has been promoted to Deputy Managing Director of AB Bank PLC.
Mr. Iftekhar started his career with AB Bank PLC. as 7th batch Probationary Officer in June 1994 after completing his Post graduation in Finance from the University of Dhaka.
He has practical knowledge of modern Banking. He led a number of Corporate Branches and Divisions of ABBL in different phases. His major professional area comprises of Corporate Business, Credit, Foreign Exchange, Branch Operations, Branch Relationship Manager and Divisional Head at Head Office level. He is a member of various committees like; Senior Management Team (SMT), Asset Liability Committee (ALCO) etc. He is also a regular trainer of AB Bank Training Academy and used to take sessions on Credit & Foreign Exchange related topics as internal resource of the Bank.
Mr. Iftekhar attended various training courses and participated in seminars and workshops on different aspects of Banking both home and abroad.
Mohammad Nazrul Islam, DMDMr. Mohammad Nazrul Islam has been promoted to the position of Deputy Managing Director (DMD) of AB Bank PLC. Prior to his promotion, he served as Senior Executive Vice President (SEVP) of the Bank. He began his career at AB Bank in 2016 by joining the operations Department of the Human Resource Management Division (HRMD) as a Senior Vice President. Currently, he is serving as the Chief Human Resources Officer of the Bank.
Mr. Islam is a founding member of the Bankers’ Club of Bangladesh Limited (BCBL). He is also a Life Fellow and General Secretary of the Bangladesh Society for Human Resources Management (BSHRM). In addition, he also served as the former president of HR Club Bangladesh Limited.
Alongside his banking career, he is associated with renowned private universities in Bangladesh as a visiting lecturer.
Before joining AB Bank, Mr. Islam served as General Manager at RANGS Group, Deputy General Manager at Navana Group and Pacific Bangladesh Telecom Limited (PBTL), and Employee Relation Manager at Grameenphone Limited.
In recognition of his professional excellence and leadership in Human Resource Management, the World HRD Congress honored him with the prestigious ‘100 Most Talented Global HR Leaders in 2015’ award.
Mr. Islam obtained both his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Accounting from the University of Dhaka. He later completed his Executive Master of Business Administration (EMBA) in Human Resource Management from North South University.
He has participated as a resource person and participant in numerous national and international conferences, seminars, and workshops held both at home and abroad.
M. N. Azim, SEVPMr. M. N. Azim started his career with AB Bank PLC. in the year 1992. Mr. Azim has worked at AB International Finance Limited, Hong Kong during the year 1997 for a period of more than 3(three) years.
During his 25 years of career, Mr. Azim has served in Treasury Back Office, Treasury Front Office and Financial Institutions Division of AB Bank PLC.. He has also served with Shahjalal Islami Bank Limited as Head of International Division. Mr. Azim rejoined AB Bank on 2006 as Head of ALM. Later on, Mr. Azim worked as the CEO of AB Bank PLC., Mumbai Branch, India from 2014 to 2017. At present he is serving as Head of Financial Institutions of the Bank.
Mr. Azim completed his Masters in Finance & Banking from Rajshahi University. He attended different training programs, workshops, seminars in both home and abroad.
Ihsanul Arefin FCA, SEVPMr. Ihsanul Arefin has been elevated to the position of Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of AB Bank PLC. on February 17, 2025.
Mr. Arefin joined AB Bank in October 2012. He has 13 years of extensive experience in financial governance, regulatory compliance, strategic financial planning and risk management. Prior to this, he served as Head of Central Accounts & Finance (CAF) for the Bank.
Mr. Arefin completed his graduation and post-graduation from the Department of Accounting & Information Systems, University of Dhaka and is a Fellow member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh (ICAB).
He attended different training programs, workshops and seminars at home and abroad.
Taufiq Hassan, EVPMr. Taufiq Hassan joined AB Bank as the Head of Retail Banking Division.
Mr. Hassan brings with him a wealth of experience in the banking industry, with proven expertise across retail banking, cards, sales, alternative delivery channels (ADC), call center operations, POS acquiring, e-commerce, and digital banking. His strong professional background also encompasses business and process development, project management, system migration, and the rollout of new banking features.
Prior to joining AB Bank PLC, Mr. Hassan held senior leadership roles at several of the country’s leading financial institutions, including United Commercial Bank PLC, BRAC Bank PLC, Eastern Bank PLC, and The City Bank PLC. Notably, he was a member of the ANZ Grindlays Bank team that introduced credit cards, ATM Service, Acquiring Business to the Bangladesh market for the first time in 1998.
Mr. Hassan holds a Master of Commerce (M.Com) in Marketing from the University of Dhaka. He is also a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) from Google and has further enhanced his professional credentials with diplomas in Customer Service and Business Process Re-engineering.
Md. Rafiqul Islam Khan FCS, VPMr. Md. Rafiqul Islam Khan, FCS has appointed as the Company Secretary of AB Bank with effective from June 23, 2026.
Mr. Khan joined AB Bank PLC. on May 20, 2026 as Vice President. He is a distinguished corporate governance, regulatory compliance, and company secretarial professional with more than 17 years of diverse experience across the banking, non-banking financial institution (NBFI), and consulting sectors. Prior to joining AB Bank PLC., he held several key leadership positions, including Vice President & Company Secretary of Meghna Bank PLC, Company Secretary of several financial institutions, and Senior Associate – Corporate Affairs at CJ Partners.
He is a Fellow Chartered Secretary (FCS) of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries of Bangladesh (ICSB). He completed his LL.B degree and is currently pursuing an LL.M. He has participated in numerous professional training programs, workshops, and seminars on corporate governance, regulatory compliance, company law, and related disciplines.
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