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Seventeen life insurance companies in Bangladesh do not have regular chief executive officers (CEOs) and are instead operating with acting or additional-charge CEOs, even though 14 experienced individuals are currently interested in taking up the posts.
Industry insiders say companies are reluctant to appoint qualified outsiders because many chairmen and boards prefer to retain their own nominees in key positions.
They said some boards want to run companies according to their preferences by keeping the CEO position under acting arrangements.
The insiders said a CEO has extensive responsibilities, including making strategic decisions, building customer confidence and settling insurance claims. Such responsibilities cannot be discharged as effectively by an acting or additional-charge CEO, they said.
Against this backdrop, the Insurance Development and Regulatory Authority (IDRA) issued a directive on 13 August, saying that if an insurer fails to appoint a regular CEO within the stipulated six-month period, the regulator will expand its “CEO Pool” based on qualifications.
IDRA will then send the CVs and information of two individuals selected from the pool to the respective company. The company’s board will have to recommend one of the two candidates to IDRA for appointment. IDRA Media and Communication Consultant and spokesperson Saifunnahar Sumi told the Daily Sun that many companies had failed to appoint regular CEOs for a long time, disrupting discipline in the sector.
She said the initiative was taken mainly to prevent insurers from keeping top positions vacant for extended periods and to ensure qualified leadership. “Many people are already included in the CEO Pool. The list will be sent to the companies from there,” she said.
In 2025, IDRA prepared a list of people interested in becoming CEOs of insurance companies, with several more added in 2026.
Currently, seven people have expressed interest in CEO positions in the life insurance sector, while another seven have submitted their CVs for positions in non-life insurers.
SM Ziaul Haque, former CEO of Chartered Life and currently a member of the IDRA CEO Pool, told the Daily Sun that all members of the pool have insurance-sector experience and have held senior positions at different companies.
Some are highly educated and have the expertise required to serve as CEOs, allowing them to contribute to the development of the sector, he said.
He said the CEO-related problems could be reduced significantly by implementing IDRA’s latest decision. At the same time, the regulator should ensure that companies operating with acting CEOs are not approved without considering candidates from the pool, he added.
According to recently published IDRA information, the 17 companies operating with additional-charge or acting CEOs are Akij Takaful Life Insurance, Baira Life Insurance, Best Life Insurance, Golden Life Insurance, Jamuna Life Insurance, Mercantile Islami Life Insurance, NRB Islamic Life Insurance, Prime Islami Life Insurance, Sunlife Insurance, Rupali Insurance Company, Padma Life Insurance, Progressive Life Insurance, Chartered Life Insurance, Fareast Islami Life Insurance, Meghna Life Insurance, Sonali Life Insurance and Homeland Life Insurance.
SM Nuruzzaman, CEO of Zenith Islami Life Insurance, told the Daily Sun that the absence of a regular CEO creates complications in a life insurer’s normal operations and governance.
The CEO is primarily responsible for a company’s day-to-day operations and management. If the position remains vacant for an extended period, delays in important decisions, poor management coordination and weak accountability may result, he said.
https://www.daily-sun.com/business/894098