Standard Chartered Bank (SCB), Bangladesh recently held a seminar for its wholesale banking clients based in Chittagong on Transaction Banking’s electronic channel – Straight 2 Bank,says a press release.
The purpose of the seminar was to familiarise customers on the benefits of using Straight2Bank. With continued use, wholesale banking clients will benefit by improving efficiencies, improving visibility on financial positions, making quicker decisions and better utilizing their business resources.
Straight2Bank is an integrated electronic platform for corporate clients of Standard Chartered Bank.
It offers comprehensive transaction access and reporting flexibility across cash, (payments & collections), documentary trade and security services. This electronic channel has three connectivity options and can be customized for users.
Nearly 100 clients attended the interactive session and utilized this opportunity to learn more about Straight2Bank. Tanvir Haider Chaudhury, head of Transaction Banking, Mahfuzur Rahman, head of Chittagong, Standard Chartered Bank and other senior officials were also present at the seminar.

News: The Independent/ Bangladesh/ 26-feb-2011

Sonali Bank Ltd. (SBL), a state-owned commercial bank, held a “Business View Exchange Meeting-2011” at a city hotel on Friday aimed to underscore on the work plans for the year of 2011 through evaluating the past year’s business achievement. The meeting was presided over by the SBL’s Managing Director and Chief Executive Director Humayan Kabir while Kazi Baharul Islam, SBL’s chairman, attended the meeting as chief guest.
SBL’s board of directors were present at the meeting as special guests, among others, general managers and deputy general managers of the bank head and local office and the high officials of all GM office, principle office, local office were also present.
Kazi Baharul Islam, said we have to build the bank as people friendly at the clients through improving services.
“We have to obtain remarkable achievement this year maintaining continuous achievement of the previous year,” he added.
Humayan Kabir underlined the need for increasing the collection of sound savings, sanctioning new loan to the good clients, recovering the default loans as well as increasing the amount of bank’s profit.

News: The Independent/ Bangladesh/ 26-feb-2011

General Manager of Rajshahi Krishi Unnayan Bank (RAKUB) Muhammad Awal Khan Wednesday urged the bankers for disbursements of adequate agri-loans at farmers’ doorsteps for enhancing agri-production. The farmers could ensure sustainable developments in the country through ensuring its food security by increasing production if they were provided with necessary facilities including agri-loans in an easier way, he said.
He put special emphasis on disbursing agri-loans at two percent interest rate among the farmers for enhancing productions of pulses, spices and oilseeds to make the country self-reliant on these essentials without imports.
He was addressing an ‘Open Agri-loan Disbursement Ceremony’ arranged by Gujipara Branch of RAKUB at Bhendabari under Pirganj upazila as the chief guest with its Zonal Manager Rafikul Alam Chowdhury in the chair.
RAKUB officials AN Das, Abdul Wajed Mandal, farmers Nurul Haque, Nazrul Islam, Bhendabari union chairman Khalilur Rahman, local elite Dildar Hossain, Manjur Hossain, Abdul Baten, Gopal Chandra, Awami League leaders Wajed Ali and Kainat Selim, addressed.
Later, the chief guest distributed agri-loans among  the farmers from different areas of the union in the open loan  disbursement ceremony.

News: The Independent/ Bangladesh/ 25-feb-2011

The board of directors of Bank Asia has recommended rights shares at a ratio of 1:4 and 40 per cent stock dividend for the year 2010.

The existing shareholders will enjoy one rights share for every four shares after the approval of the market regulator.

The extra general meeting (EGM) and annual general meeting (AGM) of the company will be held on March 30 this year at Officers' Club, while the record date for EGM and AGM is March 7, company source said.

Another record date for entitlement of the proposed rights shares to be notified later after obtaining approval from the SEC.

The bank has also reported earning per share (EPS) of Tk 64.26, net asset value (NAV) per share of Tk 235.12 and net operational cash flow per share (NOCFPS) of Tk 186.06.

News: Daily Sun/ Bangladesh / 25-Feb-2011

The World Bank’s new Country Assistance Strategy (CAS) for Bangladesh for FY 2011-14 is aimed to reduce poverty from 40 to 15 per cent and help transform Bangladesh into a middle-income country by 2021. “The CAS supports the country’s ambitious aspirations to reduce the poverty rate from 40 to 15 per cent and achieve middle- income status by 2021,” read the CAS, released here recently. The CAS builds on Bangladesh’s surprisingly strong track record on growth and human development over the past decade, it said. A WB spokesman told the agency today that the CAS has four pillars in which infrastructures, power and gas, climate change, water management, human resources development, education and healthcare facilities have been given priority. The WB financing for Padma Multi Purpose Bridge, the largest ever project of the government, which is likely to be approved by the board of the bank on Jan 25, is in the pillars, said the WB source. The WB will provide US$ 1.2 billion for the Padma Multipurpose Bridge. The WB would also provide additional financing of 300 million US dollars if the construction cost is scaled up. The country has grown by nearly six per cent per annum, significantly reducing poverty while staying on track to achieve Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) related to infant and child mortality, gender equality and school enrolments. The CAS proposes record levels of technical and financial support, including IDA lending of more than $ 6 billion in the coming four years based on continued strong country performance. “The new country assistance strategy proposes a doubling of financial support for Bangladesh relative to the FY06-09 strategy,” Ellen Gold-stein, World Bank Country Director for Bangladesh, said earlier. She added, “To deliver this higher volume of support more effectively, we will work with government to shift to larger, more strategic interventions that enhance selectivity and leverage priority reforms and investments. We will seek to scale up projects and programs that have demonstrated results and a high degree of country ownership.” For more sustainable growth, Bank strategy will include for the first time a priority to reduce vulnerability to the effects of climate change by increasing investments in water resources management, agricultural adaptation, environmental protection and disaster preparedness.

News: The Independent/ Bangladesh/24- Feb-2011