State banks last year fell way short of achieving their loan recovery targets despite the central bank's constant In 2013, the four banks aimed for cash recovery of Tk 5,379 crore from loan defaulters,

but managed only Tk 2,834 crore, which is 52.7 percent of the target, according to data from the central The recovery from top 20 loan defaulters, however, was better than in previous years: Sonali, Agrani, Janata and Rupali achieved 66 percent of their targets for 2013, whereas in previous years it was less than 12 Janata and Rupali were the high-achievers, hitting 117 percent and 217 percent of their targets respectively for retrieving bad loans from the top 20 defaulters. In comparison, Sonali and Agrani fared poorly, managing 37 percent and percent of their targets respectively.

As for their recovery target from the other defaulters, the banks managed only 51 percent. Sonali achieved 50 percent of the target, Janata 69 percent, Agrani 40 percent and Rupali 46 A Janata Bank high official said the recovery of loans would have been higher were it not for the slow and lengthy legal As of December 2013,

the number of pending cases was 15,395, involving Tk 17,210 crore, according to the central bank The four banks last year signed performance agreements with the central bank, and the loan recovery targets were made Early this month, Bangladesh Bank evaluated the performance of the four banks in line with the performance agreements and found most of the conditions were not The state banks are not allowed to provide more than 15 percent of capital as credit to a single client borrower, as per the agreements. But, Sonali exceeded the upper limit for one client, Rupali for four and Janata two.

Janata also provided around Tk 50 crore to a government entity, exceeding Another condition was that the operating expenses would not be more than 10 percent of previous year's actual spending, but Janata, Agrani and Rupali went slightly over the The state banks were also supposed to make their loss-making branches profitable, but as of December 2013 some 129 of the branches continue to lose However,

,the four banks improved their position significantly regarding capital, loan growth and classified loan Loan rescheduling and write-offs under BB's relaxed classification rules owing to political turmoil helped the state banks improve their situation in these cases. In 2013, the nationalised banks wrote-off around Tk 4,000 crore in contrast to Tk 1,000 crore a year ago.

Former chairman of the bank Quazi Sirazul Islam inaugurated the branch as the chief guest, said a press release.

Hafiz Ahmed, Habibur Rahman, Fahim Ahmed

Pubali Bank Limited declared 5 percent stock dividend and 5 percent cash dividend for its shareholders for the

year ended 31st December 2013.

The announcement came at the 31st Annual General Meeting (AGM) of Pubali Bank Limited held at Basundhara Convention Centre in Dhaka on Tuesday.

Chairman and two vice-chairmen of the Board of Directors of Pubali Bank Limited were elected unanimously in its 971st Board Meeting after the AGM.

Eminent industrialist and social worker Hafiz Ahmed Mazumder has been elected Chairman of the Board of

the bank while Habibur Rahman and Fahim Ahmed Faruk Chowdhury, eminent industrialists and social workers have been elected vice-chairman of the bank.

Hafiz Ahmed Mazumder, a tea plant owner is associated with many social welfare activities. He contributed to

the country’s education sector by establishing “Hafiz Majumder Education Trust”.

Habibur Rahman is a renowned businessman and is engaged with various social activities. He is the Sponsor

Director of Green Delta Insurance, Delta Hospital and Delta Medical Center.

Fahim Ahmed Faruk Chowdhury is a renowned businessman and is engaged with various social activities. He

is Managing Director of Chittagong Electric Manufacturing Company Ltd and Ranks FC Properties.

 A meeting of Shari’ah Supervisory Committee of Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited was held at Islami Bank Tower in Dhaka recently.

Sheikh Moulana Mohammad Qutubuddin, Chairman of the Committee and Chairman of Baitush Sharaf Anjuman-E-Ittehad Bangladesh presided over the meeting, said a press release.

Mufti Sayeed Ahmad, Vice Chairman of the committee and Head Mufti of Al Jamiatus Siddikiah Darul Ulum and Mohammad Abdul Mannan, Managing Director of the bank was present on the occasion.

The meeting took some decisions on compliance of Shari`ah and expressed satisfaction in overall activities of the bank.

 BRAC Bank organized leadership training on ‘Transformational Leadership: Tapping into Your Personal DNA’ for top executives of banks and CEOs of business organizations recently.

Senior bankers and CEOs of different companies took part in the management training, said a press release.

Internationally renow- ned leadership and innovation trainer Dr. Prasad Kaipa conducted the three-day training at BRAC CDM at Rajendrapur in Gazipur.

Syed Mahbubur Rahman, Managing Director & CEO, BRAC Bank, inaugurated the training. Some 32 top executives of different organisations took part in the training.

The training is aimed at capacity building business leaders of Bangladesh by igniting genius and helping them for innovative and strategic decisions.

This is the first time in banking industry that a leadership training was organised bringing an international trainer from abroad. It also helps in saving foreign currency for international training for top executives.