The Board of Directors of United Commercial Bank Limited (UCBL) and Prime Insurance have recommended 30 per cent and 15 per cent dividend respectively for their shareholders for the year ended on December 31, 2014.
UCBL has recommended a total of 30 per cent dividend including 10 per cent cash dividend and 20 per cent stock dividend for its shareholders, reports UNB. On the other hand, Prime Insurance has recommended a total of 15 per cent dividend including 10 per cent cash dividend and 5 per cent stock dividend.

News:Daily Sun/24-Feb-2015

Md Abdul Halim Chowdhury has been appointed as Managing Director of Pubali Bank Limited. Earlier, he was Managing Director (Current Charge) of the bank since December 7, 2014. Prior to his appointment as MD (CC), Md. Abdul Halim Chowdhury was Additional Managing Director of the bank, said a press release. Abdul Halim joined Pubali Bank Ltd as Principal Officer in 1988. He was Deputy Managing Director of the bank and also served as general manager of Credit Division, head of different corporate branches and regional head of Dhaka central region.

Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR), a percentage of a bank’s risk weighted credit exposure, has improved in the October-December quarter of last year thanks to the reduced default loan burden. 

The CAR of the banking sector rose to 11.35% in the quarter compared to 10.57% in the previous quarter (July-September), said a Bangladesh Bank press release issued yesterday. 

The standard CAR for banks has been set at 10% by Bangladesh Bank in accordance with the Basel-2 rules. 

The ratio went up as the provisioning requirement of the bank reduced during the quarter due to regularisation of huge default loans through taking advantages of relaxed policy of the loan rescheduling, said a senior executive of the central bank.

The provision shortfall of the banking sector came down to Tk796 crore during the last quarter of 2014 from the shortfall of Tk2,400 crore in the previous quarter. 

The bank maintained total capital of Tk71,754 crore in December compared to Tk64,933 crore in the previous quarter. 

The amount of reserved capital in the banking sector was Tk20,578 crore in the year 2008 following the Basel-1 rules. Later, the amount of reserved capital rose by 249% or Tk51,176 crore from the year 2008 to 2014 in line with increasing of required capital as per Basel-2 rules.

The growth rate of default loans has come down to single digit in the fourth quarter of last year from double digit that continued in the previous three quarters, thanks to the measures taken by the central bank.

The gross default loan rate stood at 9.69% in October-December quarter of the year 2014 from 11.60% in the previous quarter (July-September). 

The total default loan amount stood at Tk50,000 crore at the end of December, dropped by Tk7,000 crore  from Tk57,290 in September last year, according to Bangladesh Bank data. 

The rate of the state-owned banks came down to 22.23% in December quarter compared to 27.42% in September quarter. 

The state-owned banks conducted a massive drive to reduce the default loans in the following quarters under Bangladesh Bank pressure as these banks are mainly blamed for the high default rates. 

The default loan rate of the private banks has come down to 4.98% in December quarter from 6.34% in the previous quarter. 

HSBC has confirmed that its chief executive Stuart Gulliver uses a Swiss bank account to hold his bonuses.

The bank was responding to a report in the Guardian that Mr Gulliver has £5m in the account which he controls using a Panamanian company.

The bank pointed out that Mr Gulliver lives in Hong Kong and pays taxes there and has also paid any taxes required in the UK.

The statement did not mention the Panamanian company.

The details about Mr Gulliver's tax arrangements have emerged on the same day that HSBC publishes its annual results.

The Guardian article does not suggest any wrongdoing on Mr Gulliver's behalf, but it will add to the questions over HSBC's activities in the tax advisory business.

Allegations emerged earlier this month that HSBC had helped people evade UK tax using hidden HSBC accounts in Geneva.

The Financial Conduct Authority, HMRC, Swiss prosecutors and MPs on the Treasury Committee are looking into the allegations.

Last weekend the bank published an apology - signed by Stuart Gulliver - to its customers and staff adding that it had completely overhauled how it conducted its business since 2008.

Bankers at a workshop on monetary policy yesterday said that if the GDP growth rate comes below 6 per cent, it will have psychological effect on the investors and will work as barrier to new investment in the country, reports UNB. “Below 6 per cent GDP growth will create psychological barrier to the investment,” said SA Chowdhury, former chairman of Bangladesh Krishi Bank and also former managing director of Sonali Bank Limited, told the workshop referring to the apprehensions of economists and donor agencies that the GDP growth in the country will go below 6 per cent.
The Institution of Bank Management (BIBM) organised the workshop, with its director general Toufiq Ahmed Choudhury in the chair, at its auditorium in the city.
Expressing concern, most of the speakers at the workshop apprehended that the ongoing political turmoil might affect the macroeconomic stability of the country resulting in lower GDP growth against the targeted 7.3 per cent in the current fiscal year, 2014-15.
Responding to various questions on monetary policy from mid-level bankers representing different banks, Bangladesh Bank chief economist Birupaksha Paul agreed with the idea and said that Bangladesh Bank has been trying to pursue a cautious monetary policy to achieve the growth target keeping the inflation under control.
He admitted that there is frustration among the people about the growing non-performing loan (NPL) and money laundering, which the central bank also feels sharply.
“It’s true, no central bank governor will prefer to receive award keeping its NPL high,” said the BB chief economist adding that control of everything is not in the hands of the central banks in the third-world countries.
Advocating more independence for the central bank, he said the central bank’s independence helps government maintain better coordination in implementing its programmes and policies.
Birupaksha Paul said monetary policy should be placed in Parliament and discussed by its members as it happens in many developed countries.
Former deputy governor of Bangladesh Bank Khondkar Ibrahim Khaled appreciated different aspects of the monetary policy announced by the central bank up to June this year.
Only GDP growth should not be the main indicator of development for a country like Bangladesh, he said, adding food, education and healthcare are also the areas where concentration should be given from humanitarian point of view. 
Khondkar Ibrahim Khaled said money laundering must be checked and steps should be taken so that local money could be invested locally instead of flying overseas.
SA Chowdhury said private sector credit growth is falling for lack of enabling environment as a result of political instability.
“If private credit growth falls, it’ll directly hit macroeconomic stability,” he said, adding that foreign and local investment is essential for creating employment.
Expressing concern about the spillover effect of the proposed wage hike of the government employees, Chowdhury said that when this wage hike comes into effect, it would push up inflation and the private sector will be under pressure to hike their staff salaries as well.