BRAC Bank's SME credit portfolio has crossed Tk 5,000 crore as of November for the first time, up by Tk 712 crore from the last year's disbursement.

The bank's SME financing rose 17.63 percent to Tk 4,388 crore in 2011 from the previous year.

The growth is attributed to consistent credit demand for new small business start-ups and expansion at grassroots level as more and more entrepreneurs are being able to have access to SME loan, thanks to SME-focused initiatives of Bangladesh Bank, SME Foundation and trade bodies.

BRAC Bank is the only bank in the country to have a plan to disburse more than 50 percent of its loan portfolio to SME, the bank said in a statement.

The bank has set up 400 SME unit offices across the country to take loan facilities to small entrepreneurs at grassroots level. With average loan ticket size of Tk 6 lakh, the bank is efficiently reaching the rural and semi-urban small entrepreneurs.

A recent study shows that SMEs receiving finance from BRAC Bank have increased their fixed asset by 223 percent, equity capital by 109 percent, sales by 134 percent and profit by 91 percent.

The Impact Measurement Study conducted by independent experts of Dhaka University and commissioned by Global Alliance for Banking on Values is aimed at assessing sustainability of SME financing on small enterprises.

“As an SME-focused bank, we have witnessed phenomenal growth in SME credit that boosts national economy," Syed Mahbubur Rahman, managing director of the bank.

"Our success also comes with challenges as well. SME financing needs large manpower to monitor small loans scattered in vast geographical areas. The new loan provisioning policy also puts effect on SME financing. Bangladesh Bank has been very supportive to the country's SME sector. With its support and guidance, we will overcome the challenges.”

The central bank in assistance from Japan International Cooperation Agency has recently started a Tk 415 crore refinancing scheme to provide easy loan to SME entrepreneurs.

Such facilities from the central bank help commercial banks like BRAC Bank to provide soft loan to small entrepreneurs.

“In its 11 years of operations, BRAC Bank has disbursed Tk 22,000 crore loan to 4 lakh SME entrepreneurs across the country and 92 percent of these loans are collateral free," said Rahman.

"The finance has created direct employment to 13 lakh people. The bank also extended support to 8,000 women entrepreneurs with Tk 360 crore loan till date. With these efforts, the bank has now become synonymous with SME financing.”

News: The Daily Star/Bangladesh/6th-Dec-12

Britain's HSBC said Wednesday it would sell its stake in China's second largest life insurer Ping An to a Thai firm for $9.4 billion, in a shift back towards its traditional banking business.

The lender said it would sell its entire 15.57 percent holding in Ping An Insurance Group to diversified conglomerate Charoen Pokphand Group at HK$59 ($7.66) a share, making it the biggest foreign purchase by a Thai firm.

Ping An recently hit the headlines after the New York Times said in reports in October and November that Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's relatives benefited ahead of its 2004 Hong Kong listing by buying stock at a discount.

The insurer has denied those claims and threatened legal action against the newspaper.

HSBC Group Chief Executive Stuart Gulliver said in a statement the sale would benefit shareholders, but added that China remained "a key market for the group".

He said the bank would "strengthen our focus on growing our own operations and building on our long-term strategic banking partnership with the Bank of Communications", China's fifth largest lender, in which HSBC has a 19 percent stake.

HSBC, which first bought into Ping An in 2002, has been selling its non-core assets as part of a broad restructuring plan designed to boost profitability.

"They can unload their non-core assets and resources to refocus on their main business, which is banking," said Tanrich Securities Vice President Jackson Wong.

London and Hong Kong-listed HSBC is also setting aside hundreds of millions of dollars as provision for fines related to possible criminal charges over money-laundering allegations in the United States.

Ping An, an insurance and financial services conglomerate, credited HSBC for helping it grow its business and said it did not plan to make any changes to strategy with the new stakeholder.

"Charoen Pokphand Group agrees with Ping An's strategic culture and business model and has full trust and confidence in Ping An's management team," Ping An spokesman Sheng Ruisheng told AFP.

Charoen Pokphand, backed by Thai tycoon Dhanin Chearavanont, began as an agricultural business but has grown into a huge conglomerate with interests in sectors from retail to telecoms and software solutions to real estate.

It saw annual revenue of more than $33 billion in 2011.

The firm was one of the first overseas agribusiness companies to invest in China in the late 1970s and now accounts for more than a quarter of its poultry exports.

Shares in Ping An surged 4.94 percent to HK$60.50 in Hong Kong, while HSBC ended 1.65 percent higher at HK$80.0.

A Ping An official, who declined to be identified, told AFP on Wednesday that HSBC started negotiations on the sale "long ago" in advance of the New York Times stories.

The paper said Ping An chairman Ma Mingzhe lobbied Wen in 1999, when he was a vice-premier, and his wife as the government considered a decision on whether to split up the company.

News: The Daily Star/Bangladesh/6th-Dec-12

Alhaj Md Rezaul Karim Heera, Minister for Land, inaugurates a branch of Bangladesh Krishi Bank at Tulshipur Bazar in Jamalpur recently.

Bangladesh Krishi Bank (BKB) opened its 991st branch at Tulshipur Bazar in Jamalpur recently.

Alhaj Md Rezaul Karim Heera, Minister for Land, formally inaugurated the branch, said a press release.

Md Abdus Salam, FCA, attended the function as the special guest while SM Shamsul Alam, General Manager of Mymenshingh Division, presided over the programme.

News: The Daily Sun/Bangladesh/5th-Dec-12

Md. Shirajul Islam Mollah, Chairman of Prime Bank Limited, inaugurates the 128th branch of the bank at Shibpur in Narsingdi recently.

Prime Bank Limited opened its 128th branch at Shibpur in Narsingdi recently.

Md. Shirajul Islam Mollah, Chairman of the bank inaugurated the branch as the chief guest, said a press release Tuesday.

Md. Ehsan Khasru, Managing Director and CEO of the bank presided over the function while Deputy Managing Director Kanti Kumar Saha delivered welcome speech.

News: The Daily Sun/Bangladesh/5th-Dec-12

Shahjalal Islami Bank Limited organised the 510th meeting of the Executive Committee (EC) of the bank at the bank’s head office Monday.

Alhaj Mohammad Hasan, Chairman of the EC of the bank presided over the meeting, said a press release Tuesday.

News: The Daily Sun/Bangladesh/5th-Dec-12