The 112th branch of Dutch-Bangla Bank Limited was opened at Court Road in Brahmanbaria district town recently.

The branch will provide on-line banking facilities to the clients from the opening day, said a press release.

KS Tabrez, Managing Director of the bank, formally inaugurated the new branch.

While addressing the inaugural function, KS Tabrez said DBBL has been providing a wide range of banking products and financial services to its retail and corporate customers. The bank has also started mobile banking operation, first of this kind in the country, to reach banking services to the door steps of the millions of rural people, he added.

DBBL has a wide variety of delivery channels like ATMs, fast tracks services to over 1.9 million customers across the country.

The Daily Sun/Bangladesh/ 27th March 2012

Syed Manzur Elahi, executive board member of International Chamber of Commerce-Bangladesh (ICCB) attends a workshop on credit risk management in Dhaka yesterday. Mamun Rashid, dean of BRAC Business School; Johnson Chang, chief risk officer of HSBC Bangladesh, and Ataur Rahman, secretary general of ICCB, were also present.

Bangladesh economy presently stands at $100 billion and this could have been double to $200 billion with better management of fund by the commercial banks, said a former caretaker government adviser yesterday.

The credit risk management by the banks is significantly important as they are utilising public money for providing credit for investment, said Syed Manzur Elahi, also the chairman of Apex Group.

Elahi spoke at the inaugural session of a workshop on credit risk management organised by International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Bangladesh in the capital, the chamber said in a statement yesterday.

He said the rate of non-performing loans of the state owned banks are the highest followed by private commercial banks and foreign banks. As a result, liquidity gets affected, ultimately hampering investment in development project by the banks, he said.

Elahi appreciated the Bangladesh Bank manual of credit risk. He said the manual is very comprehensive and if properly followed will definitely reduce credit risk.

It will also help better management of fund, he said. Elahi further suggested that Bangladesh Bank should build up more professional capacity and increased manpower to monitor the risk provided by the banks.

He, however, feared that it will be difficult for the central bank to monitor liquidity closely as more banks are coming in the near future.

Mamun Rashid, dean of BRAC Business School and chairman of ICC Bangladesh Standing Committee on Banking, Technique and Practices, emphasised the need for appropriate tools and mechanism to mitigate credit risk management.

Johnson Chang, credit risk officer of HSBC Bangladesh and resource person of the workshop, and Ataur Rahman, ICCB secretary general, also spoke.

The Daily Star/Bangladesh/ 25th March 2012

Southeast Bank Limited has donated Tk 1 million to Dhaka University (DU) recently.

The Bank has donated the amount for celebrating the 46th Convocation ceremony of Dhaka University, said a press release.

Shahid Hossain, Deputy Managing Director of Southeast Bank Limited handed over the cheque to the Professor AAMS Arefin Siddique, Vice-Chancellor of Dhaka University.

Among others, Muhammad Shahjahan, company secretary of Southeast Bank was present on the occasion.

The Daily Sun/Bangladesh/ 25th March 2012

Former adviser to caretaker government Syed Manzur Elahi Saturday laid emphasis on proper credit risk management by banks, saying that the size of Bangladesh economy presently stands at US$ 100 billion which could have been double to 200 billion with better management of fund by the commercial banks. “The Credit Risk Management by the banks is significantly important as they are utilizing public money for proving credit for investment,” said Manzur Elahi, also the chairman of Apex Group, while speaking at the inaugural session of the ICC workshop here.
International Chamber of Commerce (ICC)-Bangladesh organised the workshop on Credit Risk Management.
The rate of Non-Performing Loans (NPL) of the state owned banks are the highest followed by Private Commercial Banks (PCBs) and Foreign Banks (FBs), he said, adding that as a result the liquidity gets affected which is ultimately hampering investment in development projects by the banks.
Manzur Elahi appreciated the Bangladesh Bank (BB) Manual of Credit Risk, which, he said, was very comprehensive and if properly followed by banks it would definitely help reduce credit risk.
“It will also help better management of fund. Bangladesh Bank should build up more professional capacity and increased manpower to monitor the risk,” he suggested.
He, however, has apprehension that it would be difficult for the BB to monitor liquidity closely as more banks are entering in the financial market in future.  Prof. Mamun Rashid, a noted money market critique, emphasized the need for appropriate tools and mechanism to mitigate the Credit Risk Management as it is not possible to eliminate credit risk totally.  He also urges to ensure proper management of Credit Risk as well as best utilization of resources.
Prof. Mamun thanked the HSBC Bank for their cooperation to organize the workshop. The workshop will provide participants with an overview of best practices in credit risk management and how to avoid unexpected losses, he said, adding that participants would also be able to benchmark their institution against industry best practices. Emphasis will be given on corporate credit risk management, he added.
Johnson Chang, Credit Risk Officer, HSBC Bangladesh, who is also the resource person of the workshop, spoke at the inaugural session. Among others, ICCB Secretary General Ataur Rahman also spoke in the workshop. A total of 68 senior and mid-level executives from banks and financial institutions attended the workshop. A similar workshop will be held in Chittagong on March 25.

The Independent/ Bangladesh/ 25-03-12

Bangladesh Bank (BB) is set to approve licence for new commercial banks in a meeting of its board of directors to be held on March 27.

A senior BB official said this but could not confirm how many banks will get approval from the board.

However, a member of the evaluation committee said seven commercial banks might get licence. “The board of directors is expected to approve seven banks, including two by Non-Resident Bangladeshis, in its meeting on March 27,” he added.

On September 27, 2011, the central bank invited applications from people interested in setting up new commercial banks. The BB asked the interested sponsors to submit their applications with a non-refundable bank draft of Tk 1000000 by November 30, 2011. The central bank’s scrutiny committee selected 16 applications out of a total 37 for the new banks.

Earlier, the central bank fixed the paid-up capital of Tk 2 billion for the new banks but it re-fixed the paid-up capital for a new bank at Tk 4 billion as per the revised Bank Companies Act. —BSS

The Daily Sun /Bangladesh/ 25th March 2012