BRAC Bank was named the sole winner for ‘Best Retail Bank in Bangladesh’ at the 10th International Excellence in Retail Financial Services Awards Programme.

Abdur Rahman, head of Branch Banking of BRAC Bank, received the award at the ‘International Excellence in Retail Financial Services 2011 Awards’ ceremony at a hotel in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur on Friday, said a press release.

Around 150 senior bankers from award-winning banks in 29 countries across the Asia Pacific, Middle East, Central Asia and Africa, attended the event which recognised their efforts in bringing superior products and services to their customers. On the prestigious award, Managing Director & CEO of BRAC Bank Mr. Syed Mahmudur Rahman said, “We consider this international recognition as impetus to reach new height. Our diversified retail product range with online facilities and superior customer service give us edge over competitors in retail banking. While we continue to focus on SME Banking and maintain our leadership position, we will thrive for excellence in other areas too. And this kind of international recognition will always encourage us to do so.”

News: Daily Sun/ Bangladesh/ Mar-15-2011

Mutual Trust Bank Ltd (MTB) recently launched "Privilege Banking", an exclusive service for its premium clients, as part of the bank’s affluent value strategy.

MTB Founding Chairman Syed Manzur Elahi launched the new banking platform during a ceremony at MTB Centre in the city’s Gulshan on Sunday, said a press release. ‘Privilege Banking’ is an upscale banking platform for high net worth customers. The bank launched the service with three major value propositions----privileged service, privileged benefits and privileged lifestyle. Clients under this package will enjoy services from separate offices with dedicated relationship managers. MTB Managing Director and CEO Anis A. Khan, Deputy Managing Directors---Quamrul Islam Chowdhury, Md. Hashem Chowdhury, Md. Ahsan-uz Zaman, Head of Business(Retail Banking) Gazi Yar Mohammed and other senior officials of the bank, were present at the function.

News: Daily Sun/ Bangladesh/ Mar-15-2011

The government will sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the scheduled banks today to facilitate electronic payment for the electronic government procurement (e-GP) system.

The signing ceremony will be held at the Conference Room of IMEDivision of the Planning Commission at 3:00 pm in presence of the IMED Secretary Md Habib Ullah Majumder, said a press release.

Director General of CPTU Amulya Kumar Debnath and Director (Coordination) Mohammad Yamin Chowdhury will also be present on the occasion.

Initially seven scheduled banks have confirmed signing of the MoU on the day which are Sonali Bank, Agrani Bank, Rupali Bank, Janata Bank, United Commercial Bank Ltd, National Bank and Bangladesh Krishi Bank.

Later, more banks will sign the MoU to operate e-payment for the e-GP system.

The Central Procurement Technical Unit (CPTU) Of the Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division (IMED) has taken preparation to launch e-GP in public procurement under the Public Procurement Reform Project-II supported by the World Bank.

After signing of the MoU, CPTU will invite this month bidders for registration with the e-GP system developed by the CPTU. They will also be given orientation on the use of e-GP portal.

Meanwhile, the officials of the procuring entities of the four target agencies have been trained up on the use of e-GP. Connectivity and hardware have also been provided to the procuring entities.

Local Government Engineering Department (LGED), Rural Ele-ctrification Board (REB), Bangla-desh Water Development Board (BWDB) and Roads and Highways Department (RHD are the four target agencies under the PPRP-II.

News: Daily Sun/ Bangladesh/ Mar-14-2011

Mainul Haque joined Sonali Bank limited as deputy managing director (DMD) on March 10 , says a press release. Prior to his join he was DMD of Bangladesh Krishi Bank. Mainul Haque started his career as a senior officer of the then Bangladesh Shilpo Bank in 1981.
He passed Bsc Engineering from BUET in 1980 and latter obtained a degree in MBA.
He was also employed in the Roads and highways department after qualifying the BCS Engineering.  He participated in various training programs on banking in Malaysia, Singapore, USA, UK, Canada, UAE and India.

News: The Independent/ Bangladesh/ Mar-14-2011

HSBC Bangladesh received ‘AAA’ rating for the fourth consecutive year from Credit Rating Agency of Bangladesh Limited (CRAB).

‘AAA’ is the highest rating awarded by CRAB which is given to banks with extremely strong capacity to meet their financial commitments and judged to be of the highest quality, with minimal credit risk. CRAB awarded the rating based on the performance of the bank in 2010, said a press release.

CRAB managing director Hamidul Huq handed over the rating award and report to Sanjay Prakash, chief executive officer, HSBC Bangladesh at HSBC Main Office in the city.

CRAB senior professionals HS Sohrawardhi, senior vice president, Ehsanul Kabir, assistant vice president, Shahtaj Noor, senior financial analyst and HSBC senior management including Nayeem R Chowdhury, chief financial officer, Kashafud Duza, head of financial and regulatory reporting and tax and Kaium Uddin Muhammad Sakur, manager finance, were present on the occasion.

News: Daily Sun/ Bangladesh/ Mar-13-2011