Citibank, N.A. Bangladesh has recently decided to expand its collection and disbursement channel in Bangladesh. On this ocassion CitiBank, N.A. Bangladesh and Southeast Bank Limited signed an expanded correspondent banking agreement on Monday. The agreement will facilitate transactions of the valued clients of Citibank through all the branches of Southeast Bank Ltd across the country.

Parvez Murshed, Director, Global Transaction Services and, Syed Imtiaz Hasib, Deputy Managing Director of Southeast Bank Limited, Bangladesh signed the agreement on behalf of their respective organizations in presence of Md Gofran, Deputy Managing Director and Shahid Hossain, Deputy Managing Director of Southeast Bank Limited and Tawfiq Ali, Director, Financial Institutions Division, Citibank Bangladesh. Senior officials of both banks attended the program.

News Source: The Financial Express/15 Dec 2010

National Bank Ltd. (NBL) has issued fixed rate (11.0 per cent) subordinated bond worth of BDT 2.5 billion with a maturity period of seven years to increase its capital base in line with Basel-II framework. Standard Chartered Bank (StanChart) was the mandated lead arranger for this issue management that was placed privately for subscription after getting approval from Bangladesh Bank and the Securities Exchange Commission.

Director and Chairperson of the Executive committee of NBL Ms Parveen Haque Sikder was present as the chief guest at the closing ceremony of bond subscription at a city hotel Tuesday. StanChart CEO Jim McCabe and Managing Director of NBL Neaz Ahmed were also present.

"The bond has been fully subscribed by the investors, which is a sign of their confidence in National Bank", Mrs. Sikder said in the closing ceremony. The bond has been subscribed by investors from different segments including state-owned banks, private commercial banks, non-banking financial institutions and corporate houses. "Along with increasing the capital base of the bank, we have plan to invest the rest of the fund in industrial financing", Mr. Neaz Ahmed said, charting his plan of using the fund.

Highlighting its role in managing the bond issuance, CEO of StanChart Jim McCabe said, "This is the first ever subordinate bond issuance by NBL in Bangladesh and we're proud to be part of it". StanChart has been providing value-added services to financial institutions globally for years. The ceremony was attended by managing directors and senior officials of investor institutions.

News: The Financial Express/15 Dec 2010

bKash Ltd -- a joint venture company between BRAC Bank, Bangladesh, and Money in Motion LLC, USA -- signed an agreement with ShoreBank International, an international consulting firm, to provide financial services through an extensive network of community-based agents and existing technologies, including mobile phones.

Kamal Quadir, chief executive officer of bKash, and Jesse Fripp, vice president of ShoreBank, inked the deal, at a programme in Dhaka recently, says a statement.

Sir Fazle Hasan Abed, founder and chairperson of Brac, Muhammad A (Rumee) Ali, chairman of BRAC Bank and bKash, and Syed Mahbubur Rahman, BRAC Bank's managing director, were also present.

bKash will provide an electronic platform to increase the access to a broader range of financial services for both the people who use bank and who do not.

It has a special focus to serve the low-income people of the country and promote sustainable micro-savings to achieve broader financial inclusion by providing financial services that are convenient, affordable and reliable.

ShoreBank will strengthen the company's capacity with regard to strategic and operational planning, customer uptake, marketing, building the agent network, technology, and cash management -- all under the umbrella of promoting financial inclusion.

On November 16, ShoreBank announced that it has received a $10 million grant from Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to support this enterprise.

“bKash presents a compelling business plan which capitalises on a ripe economy to dramatically expand access to formal financial services, both as an extension of BRAC Bank and as a full-scale mobile phone-based payment switch," said Muhammad A (Rumee) Ali.

"This will highly benefit the country as 83 percent of the population lives under $2 a day and access to finance can help in improving their economic condition.”

Source: the daily star, Bangladesh/14th Dec 2010

DHAKA: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) for the first time has approved a large fund of US $250 million to support microfinance initiative in its member countries.

The ADB at a meeting at its Manila headquarters today approved the fund, which will be disbursed under the Microfinance Risk Participation Programme of the Bank, said a press release.

The programme will allow ADB to partner with financial institutions that actively lend to microfinance institutions (MFIs) in ADB’s developing member countries and to share the default risk on underlying MFI loans.

The programme will also support the expansion of lending to MFIs, in turn enabling increased provision of financial services to the underserved.

This will help address the significant unmet demand from the poor for financial services, and provide additional funding for micro-borrowers.

Under the terms of the programme, ADB will typically assume up to 50 per cent of the default risk on loans made to MFIs, in aggregate up to a maximum of $250 million.

According to ADB, the microfinance industry has boomed in recent years with Asian institutions estimated to have over 47 million borrowers as of the end of 2008, with outstanding loans of over $10 billion. —BSS

The 137th branch of National Bank Limited (NBL) was inaugurated at Halishahar in Chittagong recently.

Alhajj Khalilur Rah- man, sponsor Director of the bank formally inaugurated the branch as chief guest, said a press release.

Neaz Ahmed, Managing Director, Md Badiul Alam, Additional Managing Director, S M Jaffar, Deputy Managing Director of the bank spoke on the occasion.

Doctor Nizamul Haque, Professor of Dhaka University was present on the occasion as special guest.

Nazib Uddin Bhuiyan, Deputy Managing Director of the bank delivered his welcome addresses and Md Liaquat Ali Chowdhury, Assistant Vice President and Manager of Halishahar branch delivered vote of thanks.

Local elites and businessmen were also present in the opening ceremony. Saidur Rahman, Vice President of the bank moderated the programme.

Source: daily-sun, Bangladesh/14th Dec 2010