SM Abdul Hamid, senior executive vice-president of IFIC Bank has been promoted to Deputy Managing Director (DMD) of the bank recently.

Prior to the new position, he was senior executive vice-president and chief financial officer (CFO) of IFIC Bank. He joined the bank in 1983, said a press release Tuesday.

Hamid is a fellow member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh (ICAB) and an associate of Institute of Bankers of Bangladesh.

The Bangladesh Bank (BB) Tuesday relaxed the rules of loan classification for the micro borrowers.

According to a latest circular issued Tuesday, the micro borrowers will get twelve months for repayment of loans for maximum Tk 50,000 with immediate effect.

The circular refers to the master circular of the central bank on rules of classification and provisioning dated September 23 last year.

The Bangladesh Bank has assured the Stock Market Coordination Committee (SMCC) to consider its demand for converting margin loan into equities and to enhance loan for stock dealers up to Tk 200 million.

The assurance came from a meeting between the members of the SMCC with Bangladesh Bank Governor Dr Atiur Rahman at the BB in Dhaka Monday.

A team led by Kazi Akram Uddin Ahmed, convener of SMCC met the BB governor.

“We will review the possibility of converting margin loans to equities and raining stock broker’s loan to Tk 200 million from the existing Tk 10 million and then take the final decision,” SK Sur Chowdhury, Deputy Governor of the central bank said after the meeting.

He also said the BB is working for the development of stock market and it would continue.

“We discussed the ways how to increase banks’ investment in the stocks and the central bank assured us to consider the matter,” said Kazi Akram Uddin Ahmed,

convener of SMCC and also President of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI).

“We discussed various issues relating stock market with the Bangladesh Bank governor for finding positive ways for bringing stability on stock market,”

DSE’s Senior Vice-President Ahmed Rashid Lali told daily sun. The central bank gave importance on the demands we made and also assured us to do the needful for the betterment of stock markets, he added.

DSE President Rakibur Rahman, President of the Bangladesh Association of Banks (BAB) Md Nazrul Islam Mazumder, Chairman of the Association of Bankers

 Bangladesh Mohammed Nurul Amin, Managing Director of the Investment Corporation of Bangladesh (ICB) Mohammad Fayekuzzaman,

Breg Gen (Retd) Wakaruzzaman, DSE’s nominated director, MA Hafiz, President of Bangladesh Merchant Bankers Association and DSE’s acting CEO Shuvra Kanti were present.

The net profits of HSBC Bank sank 16.5 percent to $14.03 billion in 2012, hit by US money-laundering fines, mis-selling scandals, rising taxation and a huge accounting charge.

The profit after tax fell to an amount equivalent to 10.78 billion euros last year, compared to $16.8 billion in 2011, London-headquartered HSBC said while unveiling its statement. Meanwhile, the pre-tax profits of the bank slid six percent to $20.65 billion.

HSBC's performance was hit by a $1.9-billion fine to settle US allegations of money laundering that were said to have helped Mexican drug cartels, terrorists and Iran.

HSBC's annual results were spoiled by a vast $5.2-billion charge against the value of its own debt and it set aside another $1.4 billion to cover compensation in Britain for mis-selling scandals.

Pretax profit from its commercial banking increased 7 percent to $8.5 billion.

A 41 percent drop in loan-impairment charges at the consumer banking and wealth-management unit helped pretax profit rise to more than double to $9.58 billion.

The bank’s underlying revenues for the group rose 7 percent to $63.5 billion, global banking and markets 10 percent to $18.2 billion, commercial banking 8 percent to $15.9 billion, retail banking and wealth management 6 percent to $27.7 billion, more than half of the Group’s underlying revenue from the faster-growing regions.

However, the lender's capital position improved following a string of asset sales, including its stake in Chinese insurance giant Ping An. As a result, the bank pledged to pay out more in shareholder dividends this year.

HSBC said it would increase dividend payments to $8.3 billion, or 45 cents per share, a 10 percent boost from last year.

The bank planned to raise the first three interim dividends for 2013 to $0.10 for each of the ordinary shares, a 11 percent further from the previous year.