Former State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) governor Ashraf Mahmood Wathra has been named chairman of the board of the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) for a three-year term by the federal government.
In addition, the government selected Nasim Ahmed and Ali Syed to the NBP Board of Directors.
In accordance with section 11(3) (a) of the Banks (Nationalization) Act 1974, the federal government is pleased to appoint Chairman and Directors to the Board of Directors of the National Bank of Pakistan for a term of three years, pending clearance of the SBP’s fitness and propriety test criteria.
In addition, the notification indicated that the Additional Finance Secretary (IF) of the Finance Division will serve as an ex-officio Director on the Board of NBP.
On December 28, 2022, the Finance Ministry, with Finance Minister Ishaq Dar’s consent, sent a summary to the Prime Minister’s Office for clearance before submitting it to the federal cabinet meeting.
The summary stated that in accordance with the Banks (Nationalization) Act of 1974, a bank’s Board of Directors would consist of a president who shall be the top executive, five to seven additional members, and a chairman of the board.
The law stipulates that the federal government will nominate the chairman, president, and other board members of a bank for a three-year term, in conjunction with the SBP.
Since April 16, 2022, the NBP Board has been dysfunctional due to a lack of the minimum required five directors. On the board, there were five unfilled posts – chairman and four directors – till now.
