One of the leading banks in Bangladesh, HSBC launched a business plan competition for undergraduate students yesterday. The contest, Young Entrepreneur Award (YEA) 2011, aims at promoting "creativity and innovation and sharpen the business knowledge of young students beyond their borders". "YEA will harness creative ideas and provide real-life exposure to the future entrepreneurs of the country," said Sanjay Prakash, chief executive officer of HSBC in Bangladesh, at the launch at Sonargaon Hotel in Dhaka.

The procedure for taking part in the contest is very easy. Any interested team of two to three members can take part in the contest by submitting a business plan on the YEA website, www.asiayea.com, by February 10. Seven teams will be allowed to present their plans to a panel of experts after passing through two levels of screening and workshops on entrepreneurial skills and knowledge, said a statement. The best team will get Tk 75,000 as prize money. The second and third best teams will be awarded Tk 45,000 and Tk 35,000 respectively.

All the three teams will participate in a study tour in Hong Kong where the winner will compete in the regional grand finale in June. YEA's winners from Hong Kong, Malaysia, Thailand, Shanghai, Philippines and Brunei will also participate in the finale.

News: The Daily Star/Bangladesh/20 Jan 2011

NCC Bank has taken various initiatives to increase inflows of remittances through banking channels. In this regard, additional managing director of the bank Golam Hafiz Ahmed, along with head of remittance & NRB services department ABM Jashim Uddin Ahamed visited Italy recently as a part of motivational programme to inspire Bangladeshi expatriates, said a press release.

During the visit, they highlighted various attractive schemes of the bank designed for Bangladeshi expatriates and requested them to send money through banking channels. To facilitate easy and faster remittance to Bangladesh, they have met officials of different exchange companies in Italy. During their stay at Italy, Golam Hafiz Ahmed and ABM Jashim Uddin Ahamed paid a courtesy visit to Bangladesh Embassy and discussed the matter with Masud Bin Monem, Bangladesh embassador to Italy.

News: Daily Sun/ Bangladesh/ Jan-20-2011

Stock market tumbled one more time yesterday that counts fifth straight crash in a row. It's been very thwarting for the regulator's efforts of containing volatility and repealing the hope for a calm and confident market. The latest move -- the introduction of circuit-breaker, which halts the market if the index gains or loses more than 225 points -- also turned futile. Trading began two hours late and the plunging stocks halted it within one and a half hours, after hitting the circuit-breaker threshold.

Analysts said the circuit-breaker will not help control the volatility and restore confidence, unless liquidity inflow increases to support fresh buying. "It's not a solution. It's not an effective tool," said Yawer Sayeed, chief executive of AIMS, an asset manager. His remark came after the benchmark DSE General Index (DGEN) lost 226 points or 3.17 percent, amid panic sales. The slump made the investors violent on the streets again. "The result of the circuit-breaker will be nothing but protests, as you have seen today," said Salahuddin Ahmed Khan, former chief executive of Dhaka Stock Exchange. "It's not an effective solution. The circuit-breaker will result in decreased share prices," said Khan. "Such intermediate measures will not bring about effective results."

Stocks lost 660 points on January 11 and a day later, it sprinted up 1,000 points or 15 percent on a stimulus from the regulator. But a freefall returned the next day as liquidity crunch kept institutional investors shy from buying. Many investors entered the market late, inspired by bubbling in share prices in the last one and a half years. Now their hopes of making easy money is shattered by the consistent downfall, as banks that had earlier fed the bubble amid slack regulatory monitoring started liquidating investments ahead of the year-end, and complied with tightened monetary policy of Bangladesh Bank. Khan said the slump brought another problem -- a confidence crunch. "It appears that the market is heading towards a crisis," he said, suggesting increased money flow. "Any intermediate step will not be effective. It will rather deepen the instability."

Hasan Imam, chief executive of Race Asset Management Ltd, said the circuit-breaker is just one tool to manage the volatility. "It must be used carefully because it has some downsides. If the circuit-breaker is not used properly, it may intensify the panic," he said. Imam said the circuit-breaker may not bring stability unless the liquidity crunch is addressed.

News Source: The Daily Star/Bangladesh/20 Jan 2011

The central bank has provided more fund to the state-run Investment Corporation of Bangladesh (ICB) to bring back stability in the share market, officials said.

Bangladesh Bank (BB) has disbursed a total of Tk 4.0 billion to the ICB through IFIC bank in the last two consecutive days to avert any massive slide.

"We've provided the fund to the ICB as short term loan," a BB senior official told the FE Tuesday, adding that the central bank would inject more fund as per the market requirement.

On Sunday, the BB sanctioned a fresh loan to the ICB amounting to Tk 2.0 billion, which was disbursed on Monday.

The BB further injected fresh fund worth Tk 2.0 billion to the ICB Tuesday as trading in both bourses was halted by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for the second time in eight days.

With 80 minutes remaining in Tuesday's trading session, the benchmark index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange, generally known as DGEN, was down by 3.29 per cent or 243 points when trading was suspended.

Earlier on Monday last week, the SEC suspended trading within the opening fifty minutes of trade when DGEN was down by 9.0 per cent or 660 points.

"We'll take all measures to bring back stability in the capital market," an ICB senior official told the FE, adding that the ICB is purchasing shares actively to inspire the investors and boost their confidence.

News: The Financial Express/ Bangladesh/ Jan-19-2011

HSBC's new Group Chief Executive and Chairman of HSBC Asia Pacific Mr Stuart Gulliver, has assumed office in Hong Kong, the location of the principal office of HSBC's Group CEO. He is also leading his first Group Management Board meeting as the Group CEO.

In one of his first comments after taking over as Group CEO, Mr Stuart Gulliver said, "Asia is our most strategically important region, and it is fitting that my first meeting as Chairman of the Group Management Board should be here".

News Source: Financila Express/Bangladesh/19 Jan 2011