Standard Chartered Bangladesh will organise an exposition in the city to provide an opportunity to its business partners to showcase their products to the customers of the bank.

The exhibition titled ‘Showcasing Lifestyle 2011’ will be held on January 13-15 at Radisson Hotel in the capital.

The event will provide a unique opportunity for the bank’s business partners to exhibit their exclusive products and services, to match the lifestyle needs of the bank’s customers, said Sandeep Bose, head of consumer banking of Standard Chartered Bangladesh.

Exhibitors will include leaders of various industries like real estate, automobile, furniture, electronics and other premium lifestyle products while Standard Chartered will exhibit its range of services.

‘The exclusivity of this event aims to ensure that we are able to cater to the discerning needs of our high value customers,’ Sandeep Bose said.

Depending on the response to this event, the bank plans to organise this exposition every year, he added.

Shanta Properties Limited and Asset Development & Holdings Limited will co-sponsor the event while Rangs Properties Ltd, Urban Design & Development Ltd. (UDDL) and ICON (Orascom) will join are partners.

Source: Daily Sun/Bangladesh/ Jan-09-2011

The operating profit of United Commercial Bank Limited (UCBL) during calendar 2010 surpassed the target set for the year by Taka 1.0 billion to Tk 5.05 billion.

This is a 55 percent growth over the previous year.

The bank earned Tk 3.25 billion as operating profit in 2009 and the target set for the year 2010 was Tk 4.0 billion, according to the bank’s annual report.

The report showed a steady growth in the operating profit of the bank over the last ten years.

The operating profit of UCB in 2001 was recorded at Tk 5.03 billion while the deposit in the same year amounted to Tk 14.245 billion. It stood at Tk 113.19 billion in 2010.

Being in operation for the last 27 years, its number of profit earning branches reached 105 out of the total 107 across the country, the report stated.

This was revealed at a function styled ‘Annual Business Conference 2011’ organised by the bank at a city hotel yesterday.

Chairman of UCB MA Hashem addressed the function as the chief guest.

He called upon the branch managers to continue all out efforts to further accelerate the growth of the bank with highest professioalism.

UCB chairman laid emphasis on expanding small loan products such as SME and retail lending to minimise the defaulting risk which is widely present in cases of big loans.

MA Hashem also asked the senior officials to take initiative for introducing separate merchant banking, brokerage house and Islami banking services to earn more profit.

He expressed his hope that the target of earning Tk 6.50 billion operating profit set for the current year would be exceeded by Tk 8.0 billion.

Vice Chairman Kazi Enamul Hoque, Chair-man of Audit Committee Md Jahangir Alam Khan, Directors Saifuzzaman Chowdhury, MA Sabur, Hajee MA Kalam, Sabbir Ahmed, Sharif Zahir, Sultana Rezia Begum, Tanvir Khan, Nasim Kalam, Bazal Ahmed, Qamrun Nahar and Nurul Islam Chowdhury were also present.

Earlier, Managing Director of UCB M Shahjahan Bhuiyan deli-vered the welcome speech.

The managers of successful branches were also awarded at the function.

Source: Daily Sun/Bangladesh/ Jan-09-2011

A workshop on ‘money laundering prevention’ was organised at the Narayanganj Club recently for the officials of commercial banks operating in Narayanganj.

In partnership with the Money Laundering Preven -tion unit of Bangladesh Bank, HSBC Bangladesh organised the programme, said a press release.

Source: Daily Sun/Bangladesh/ Jan-09-2011

Analysts held the central bank's lack of control for the stock market's crash.

The Dhaka Stock Exchange fell by 555 points during the first week's trade in the year. But on Sunday the stocks came tumbling down with a record fall of 600 points, which is 7.75 percent.

The analysts indicated that the Bangladesh Bank should have contained the exposure of commercial banks in the stock market.

"This fall was imminent," said Zaid Bakht, research director of Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies.

According to him excess liquidity in the market coupled with the 'over exposure' of banks in the market compounded the problem making it overheated.

"And now there is a credit crunch in the market as the central bank has asked banks to limit their stock investment."

The central bank should have acted when the banks started to pour their funds into the market, said Bakht.

"Where were they (central bank) when the banks were investing heavily?"

Former DSE chief executive Salahuddin Ahmed echoed him.

"They [banks] had forgotten their responsibilities," he told bdnews24.com on Sunday.

It would have been effective if it was controlled beforehand, according to Ahmed, a finance professor of Dhaka University.

Regarding the crash, he said that it shouldn't have happened because all the sectors are not overpriced.

"I would say it's an abrupt correction."

He was echoed by a former chairman of the capital market regulator Securities and Exchange Commission, A B Mirza Azizul Islam.

"The fall is normal, but the extent in a single day is quite unnatural," he said while speaking to bdnews24.com on Sunday.

Also a former caretaker government adviser for finance and commerce, Islam, however, said that the index was still rather high.

"An index between 6000 and 6500 is reasonable."

Source: bdnews24.com/Bangladesh/ Jan-09-2011

Bangladesh Bank has urged the people not to invest in multilevel marketing companies that offer abnormal profit in a short period of time.

In a statement issued on Sunday, the central bank warned that investors can get deceived by these companies that come up with schemes offering 10 percent or more profit on monthly basis upon investments in gold markets abroad or foreign exchanges.

The anti-money laundering act deems such investments as offences, the statement added.

Source: bdnews24.com/ Bangladesh/ Jan-09-2011