Banks asked to verify certificates of all officers in 7 months

Bangladesh Bank has asked all scheduled banks to verify the educational certificates of their officers and employees within seven months, following repeated cases of questionable recruitment and forged qualifications across the banking sector.

BB issued a circular in this regard today.

Tap here to add The Daily Star as a trusted source

Under the new directive, banks must complete verification of the academic credentials of all existing employees by March 31, 2027.

All new recruitment must be made through competitive examinations and interviews.

For new recruits, the latest educational certificate must be verified within one year of joining.

The central bank has also tightened recruitment procedures, requiring banks to publicly advertise entry-level vacancies and select candidates through competitive examinations and interviews.

The move comes amid allegations that some banks have recruited employees without properly examining educational certificates, assessing qualifications, or following transparent recruitment procedures.

In some cases, employees allegedly secured jobs through personal references or other informal channels without a public job circular or competitive examination.

BB asked banks to publish vacancies for entry-level positions such as management trainee officer, senior officer, probationary officer, junior officer, and trainee cash officer on their websites or job portals and in at least two national newspapers.

Candidates for such posts must go through a written or online test followed by an interview, and the bank must appoint candidates based on the competitive process.

For senior employees recruited from another bank or financial institution, at least an interview will be mandatory.

If a bank recruits a senior employee from another bank, it may rely on the previous employer's verification only if the release order clearly identifies the certificates that were checked. Otherwise, the recruiting bank must conduct its own verification.

The requirements appear particularly significant against allegations of non-transparent recruitment in several banks. The problem is not new.

The new rules require each bank to verify an employee's latest academic certificate directly with the issuing university, education board, or other relevant authority.

Any certificate submitted later for promotion, confirmation, or other employment benefits must likewise be verified, and the verification record kept in the employee's personal file.

If a certificate is found to be fake, the bank must take disciplinary or administrative action and record the case in the Corporate Memory Management System.

The CMMS shared system was introduced by Bangladesh Bank in 2019 to prevent employees removed from one bank for misconduct from obtaining employment at another bank without disclosure.

Alongside the recruitment and certificate-verification requirements, Bangladesh Bank has ordered banks to formulate or update comprehensive human resources policies covering recruitment, probation, training, performance assessment, promotion, transfers, succession planning, termination, leave, code of conduct, conflict of interest, whistleblower protection, grievances, disciplinary procedures, and anti-harassment measures.

The respective bank boards must adopt the updated HR policies by March 31, 2027.