IDRA revises CEO appointment rules, eases experience requirement in special cases

Staff Correspondent: Bangladesh’s Insurance Development and Regulatory Authority (IDRA) have introduced a significant amendment to the regulations governing the appointment and removal of insurance companies’ chief executive officers (CEOs), aiming to enhance professional standards while permitting limited flexibility for government-owned and multinational insurers. The amendment, issued through SRO No. 474-Law/2025 under Sections 148 and 80 of the Insurance Act, 2010, was published in the official gazette on 22 December 2025.

Under the revised framework, candidates for the CEO position must have a minimum of 12 years’ experience in the insurance sector. In this period, the individual must have at least one year as a CEO, Additional Managing Director, or General Manager of state-owned insurance corporations, or three years as a Deputy Managing Director. For Deputy Managing Directors, the amendment mandates at least one year of administrative or non-development experience at the head office. This requirement marks a tightening of professional experience standards compared with the 2023 amendment, which required two years in the CEO role or the immediate lower position, alongside a total of 12 years in insurance business.

However, the amendment preserves discretion for IDRA to relax experience conditions in specific circumstances. For insurance companies where the government or government-affiliated entities hold more than 50 percent ownership and for globally recognised multinational insurers, candidates with a minimum of two years of direct insurance experience in senior management positions may be considered for CEO appointment.

IDRA has defined ‘senior management position’ in multinational insurers to include roles beyond CEO or Managing Director, like Additional Managing Director, Deputy Managing Director, Chief Distribution Officer, Chief Financial Officer, Chief Information Officer, Chief Operations Officer, Chief Agency Sales Officer, Chief Business Distribution Officer, Chief Human Resources Officer, Chief Marketing Officer, Company Secretary, Chief Investment Officer, Chief Risk Official and heads of internal audit and compliance.

The amendment also provides professional degree holders with flexibility. Candidates with recognised qualification like Actuarial Fellow or Associate (UK/USA), Chartered Insurance Institute (UK), CLU (USA), ICAB, ICAEW, ACCA, ICMA, CFA, or CPA may have experience requirements relaxed at IDRA’s consideration.

Processing time for CEO appointment and renewal application has been extended from 15 days to 60 days. If a decision is not made in this period, approval, once granted, will take effect from the date of expiry of the previous term.

Disqualification rules have been strengthened. Individuals previously removed for corruption, abuse of power, money laundering, or economic irregularities are now explicitly barred from being appointed or renewed as CEO. Directors, significant shareholders holding 5 percent or more, consultants, or advisers of an insurance company are also not eligible for the CEO role.

IDRA’s power to remove CEOs has been heightened, allowing the authorities concerned to form investigation committees and directly remove a CEO following due process if essential. The amendment also introduces a new approach to performance evaluation for appointment and renewal, shifting the focus from general ‘work capability’ to the quality and quantity of performance, reflecting a more outcome-oriented assessment.