Standard Chartered Bank Limited signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Singapore Airlines at its head office in Dhaka.

Gitanka Datta, Head of Cards of Standard Chartered Bank and Kam Zhi Wei, Station Manager for Dhaka and Singapore Airlines signed the agreement recently, said a press release.

Md Mahiul Islam, GM of Standard Chartered Bank, Rifat Kader, Head of Sales of Singapore and senior officials of both the organisations were present at the signing ceremony.

Under this MoU, Standard Chartered VISA Signature cardholders will enjoy 50 percent off on second ticket and 25 percent off on third ticket acquisition from Singapore Airlines.

They will get benefit for carrying 10 kgs of excess luggage and priority checking at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport while travelling through Singapore Airlines.

The Daily Sun/Bangladesh/ 27th June 2012

Bangladesh Development Bank Ltd (BDBL), a state-owned specialised bank, has earned Tk 686 million net profit during 2011.

The Bank during the year disbursed Tk 785.6 million credit and recovered Tk 1.65 billion.

This was revealed at the second Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Bank held at the BDBL Bhaban in Dhaka.

Senior Director Professor Shanti Narayan Ghosh presided over the AGM. Managing Director Dr. Md. Jillur Rahman, Deputy Secretary of Finance Ministry, Mamun Al Rashid, Directors, were present at the meeting.

The AGM approved BDBL’s annual accounts for 2011.

The meeting also revealed that BDBL has paid Tk 50.3 million to the government and Tk 522.2 million to Bangladesh Bank in the year.

Addressing the AGM Dr. Jillur Rahman said that the Bank’s deposit has increased by Tk 1.45 billion in 2011 compared to 2010.

All the indexes of the Bank have been improving due to various positive initiatives taken by the bank last year. Against Tk 4 billion capital of the Bank, there is a deposit of Tk 10.30 billion, which is needed for the year 2011, signaling that the bank has no provision deficiency, Dr. Jillur added.

The Daily Sun/Bangladesh/ 27th June 2012

The remittance inflow is set to cross $13 billion mark at the end of the current fiscal year as the amount has already reached $12.54 billion till June 22 this year, Bangladesh Bank (BB) sources said.

The country, however, fetched $11.6 billion as remittance in 2010-11 fiscal.

A BB official said the growth in remittance was driven by a couple of factors including migration of a large number of workers and also some regulatory measures.

“The inward remittance is expected to exceed $13 billion mark at the end of June 2012 as banks are relentlessly working to mobilise more foreign currencies from Bangladeshi workers abroad by offering hassle-free and low-cost money transfer,” said the BB official, seeking anonymity.

He also informed that BB governor Atiur Rahman himself is constantly monitoring the situation.

“If any single remitter faces problems with any bank, the governor has constant directives on us to resolve the problem rapidly,” the official said. BB data shows that migrant workers have so far remitted $767.49 million this month.

Remittance inflow reached $1.15 billion in May this year, up by 15.30 percent compared to $998.42 million in the same period a year ago.

Traditionally, the Middle East countries are the major sources of remittance inflow to Bangladesh. During the July-May period of the current fiscal, the country received $3.38 billion as remittance from Saudi Arabia, $2.20 billion from United Arab Emirate (UAE) and $1.09 billion from Kuwait, according to BB data.

Islami Bank Bangladesh Ltd (IBBL) handled the largest amount of remittance among the country’s public and private commercial banks during the last few years.

The bank channeled $3.19 billion during the July-May period of 2011-12 fiscal.

In FY 2010-11 and FY 2009-10, the bank handled inward remittance of $3.0 billion and $2.9 billion respectively.

State-owned Sonali Bank Ltd, Agrani Bank Ltd and Janata Bank Ltd channeled $1.16 billion, $1.14 billion and $913.05 million respectively in July-May period of 2011-12 fiscal, according to BB data.

Sources said state-owned Rupali Bank is in the process to accelerate remittance by expanding its overseas operation and getting new agreements with authorised dealer banks in the destination countries.

Among the private banks, National Bank, BRAC Bank, Pubali Bank, South East Bank, Uttara Bank, The City Bank, NCC Bank, Bank Asia, Prime Bank and AB Bank also extended their efforts to secure bigger amount of remittance in the days to come.

Participation of foreign banks in remittance handling has been low over the years. In July-May period of the outgoing fiscal, all nine foreign banks together channeled only $205 million. Of the amount, the stake of the HSBC Bank is $103 million, followed by Standard Chartered Bank’s $90 million.

The Daily Sun/Bangladesh/ 27th June 2012

Md Nurul Amin, Managing Director of NCC Bank, inaugurates a booth in Jessore.

NCC Bank Limited opened two ATM booths in Khulna and Jessore districts.

Md Nurul Amin, Managing Director and CEO of the Bank, inaugurated the booths as chief guest, said a press release Tuesday.

AK Md Siddique, Consultant, Md Omar Faruque Bhuiyan, Executive Vice President and senior officials of the Bank were present on the occasion.

The Daily Sun/Bangladesh/ 27th June 2012

Md. Shirajul Islam Mollah, Chairman and Tanjil Chowdhury, Vice Chairman of the executive committee of Prime Bank jointly inaugurate a branch at Tejgaon Monday.

Prime Bank Limited has opened its 120th branch at Tejgaon.

Md. Shirajul Islam Mollah, Chairman of the Bank and Tanjil Chowdhury, Vice Chairman of the executive committee jointly inaugurated the branch Monday, said a press release.

Md. Ehsan Khasru, Managing Director of the Bank presided over the inaugural session while Md. Tabarak Hossain Bhuiyan, Deputy Managing Director delivered the welcome speech.

Mizanur Rahman Bhuiyan, Vice Chairman and Md. Shahadat Hossain, Director of the Bank, Commander A Shahidur Rahman, CEO of Capital Paper and Engr Kamal Uddin Ahmed, CEO of Shanta Properties Ltd were also present on the occasion.

The Daily Sun/Bangladesh/ 27th June 2012