After reducing the use of electricity and paper at its office, Eastern Bank Ltd (EBL) is now gearing up for carbon trading to show its commitment to environment-friendly funding.

“Perhaps, we'll be the first Bank to claim refinance from the central bank for carbon credits,” said Ali Reza Iftekhar, managing director of the Bank.

Iftekhar said his Bank has reduced electricity consumption by 33 percent and paper use by 40 percent in 2011. Four branches and six automated teller machines of the Bank are run on solar power.

EBL also has the credit to fund $3 million (more than Tk 24 crore) to Rahimafrooz to install an 18-megawatt solar power panel a few years back.

Now the Bank has come up with 'Nobodoy', a customised loan product to green financing. Some 36 agri-based areas defined by the Bangladesh Bank can get the financing at a 10 percent interest rate.

Minimum loan will be Tk 2 lakh and maximum at Tk 70 lakh under the Nobodoy product and no collateral will be needed for up to Tk 10 lakh loan, according to Khurshed Alam, head of SME Banking of the Bank. The moratorium period is three months.

Iftekhar is upbeat about the new green product and vows to spread it across the country. The Bank has already disbursed nearly Tk 60 lakh to eight biogas plants in Cox's Bazar.

“It's a journey, not destination,” he said. “We've started in a smaller way, but there may be a revolution in the years to come,” he said.

The EBL boss now dreams of carbon trading, which is a growing business, especially in the developed countries. The global carbon market now tops $100 billion. Carbon trading could top $1 trillion a year by 2020, according to research firm New Carbon Finance. By then, carbon would rival oil as one of the largest commodity markets.

The Daily Star/Bangladesh/ 25th Jan 2012

Niaz Habib has joined Dhaka Bank as additional managing director, the bank said in a statement yesterday.

He started his career with Bangladesh Shilpa Bank (Now Bangladesh Development Bank Ltd) as a financial analyst in 1978.

Habib worked with American Express Bank Ltd for 21 years. He also served in senior management positions in Eastern Bank, United Commercial Bank, AB Bank and Premier Bank, according to the statement.

The Daily Star/Bangladesh/ 25th Jan 2012

Gone are the days when you could buy a car paying half the price and the bank loaning you the rest of the money. A Bangladesh Bank decision on Sunday reined in consumer loans such as car loans in the unproductive sector.

A circular issued by the central bank said the margin ratio for car loans and all other unproductive loans had been raised to 30:70, which means 70 per cent of the expense must be borne by the consumer and bank loans will only provide for the remaining 30 per cent.

The margin to loan ratio was 50:50 before this decision. This means consumers can only take loans for cars and other consumer goods if they can pay for 70 per cent of it out of their own pockets.

The ratio in housing finance loans on the other hand have been changed to 70:30 from 80:20, which is a smaller change of proportions.

The circular entailing the measures, signed by central bank’s Banking Regulation and Policy Department head K M Abdul Wadud, took effect immediately.

The Daily Independent/Bangladesh/ 24th Jan 2012

M Moniruzzaman Khandaker, Chairman of Board of Directors of Karmasangsthan Bank, seen at Branch Managers' and Field Workers' Conference of the bank, in Dhaka recently.

The Daily Sun/Bangladesh/ 24th Jan 2012

High officials of Standard Chartered Bank and Asset Developments & Holdings Limited speak at a press conference at a city hotel yesterday.

The Daily Sun/Bangladesh/ 24th Jan 2012