Kazi Zahidul Hasan :
Sonali Bank UK (SBUK) Limited has employed a cyber security expert at a cost of £1,000.00 per day although it does not do any online banking.
He (cyber security expert) has been recruited as part of the bank authorities’ long inherited unfair recruitment process in which they are prioritizing recruitment of foreign staff declaring Bangladeshi staff redundant.
The national flag carrier bank recently went through a redundancy exercise and held off further business development amid growing operational losses and implementing a new operating system and control process in line with the suggestions from British regulator.
The redundancy exercise, personally overseen by its chief risk officer Steven Boult, further weakened the financial strength of the bank as it had to count huge compensation for enforcing the plan.
SBUK’s net loss before payment of tax stood at £296,006 in 2016 and £1,532,910 in 2015.
Sources said the redundancy exercise has been executed poorly axing dozen of its efficient officer and employees without any business needs analysis. It has cost the bank more money in the short, and long-term and putting business continuity at risk.
For an example, the bank’s IT department had five staff in total, two managers and three workers. Yet when the redundancy took place Steven decided on letting go of the three workers keeping to two managers.
This made no sense from the business point of views and financial aspect as the three workers’ salary were much lower than the two managers. The combined salary of the three workers was equal to the same salary of one of the managers.
Since the three workers have left other areas of the bank is suffering, what really makes things worse is Steven hired a cyber crime specialist at a cost of £1,000.00 per day. This is such a waste of money considered SBUK does not do any online banking therefore there is no need for this person. This person has a personal connection to Steven and hence the very high salary.
SBUK was established in 2001 with a paid up capital of £11.57 million. The paid up capital was increased to £ 25 million in early 2012.
The government of Bangladesh holds 51 per cent of the shares of UK Sonali Bank and 49 per cent by Sonali Bank Ltd, Bangladesh.
The principal aim of the bank is to provide wholesale banking to the Bangladeshi Banks and retail banking services (very limited) to the Bangladeshi community living in the UK.
“The bank plunges into deep crisis due to inefficiency of the top officials. They are more active to implement personal agenda rather than increasing business of the bank forcing it to incur huge losses in the last two years,” a former SBUK official told The New Nation yesterday.
