Former officials of HSBC Bangladesh have accused the bank of violating labor laws, misleading regulators, and denying fair compensation following the closure of its retail banking operations. The allegations were made at a press conference held at the Economic Reporters Forum auditorium in Dhaka’s Paltan area on Saturday morning. The affected employees demanded that relevant government agencies investigate the matter and take necessary action.

According to a written statement presented by representative Alamgir Kabir, 257 officials lost their jobs on March 31 as part of the retail banking shutdown, but the bank allegedly failed to follow legal retrenchment procedures. The employees claimed that while HSBC informed Bangladesh Bank that they were retrenched, they were actually given termination letters, depriving them of lawful severance benefits. Additional complaints included improper implementation of central bank directives, provident fund deductions, loan adjustment issues, discrimination in reemployment, increased home loan interest rates, and withheld release letters.

The affected officials urged authorities including Bangladesh Bank and the Ministry of Labour to ensure legal accountability, fair severance payments, and refund of deducted funds with interest and penalties.