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Habib Bank
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Habib Bank Limited | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Type | Public |
| Founded | Bombay (now Mumbai (1941) |
| Headquarters | Habib Bank Plaza Karachi, Pakistan  |
| Industry | Banking Capital Markets Global Markets |
| Products | Loans, Credit Cards, Savings, Consumer Banking etc. |
| Revenue |  PKR |
| Slogan | The Power to Lead |
| Website | www.hbl.com |
Habib Bank Limited (commonly referred to as "HBL") (Arabic: حَبيب بينك) is the largest bank in Pakistan. The bank is headquartered in Habib Bank Plaza, Karachi, Sindh. An nationwide network of 1425 branches in Pakistan, HBL also has a network of 55 branches worldwide.
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Habib Bank was established in 1941 in Bombay to catering to the Indian Muslim community and established operations in Pakistan in 1947 and moved its head office to Karachi. The first international branch was established in Colombo, Sri Lanka in 1951 and Habib Bank Plaza in Karachi was built in 1972 to commemorate the bank’s 25th Anniversary.
With a domestic market share of over 40%, HBL was nationalized in 1974 and it continued to dominate the commercial banking sector with a major market share in inward foreign remittances (55%) and loans to small industries, traders and farmers. International operations were expanded to include the USA, Singapore, Oman, Belgium, Seychelles and Maldives and the Netherlands.
On June 13, 2002 Pakistan's Privatization Commission announced that the Government of Pakistan had formally granted the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development (AKFED), a subsidiary of the Aga Khan Development Network, rights to 51% of the shareholding in HBL, against an investment of PKR 22.409 billion (USD 389 million). [1]
On February 26, 2004, management control was handed over to AKFED. The Board of Directors was reconstituted to have four AKFED nominees, including the Chairman and the President/CEO and three Government of Pakistan nominees.[2]
To be recognized as the leading financial institution of Pakistan and a dynamic international bank in the emerging markets, providing our customers with a premium set of innovative products and services, and granting superior value to our stakeholders – shareholders, customers and employees.
HBL's has branches located in the largest commercial cities of Pakistan and operations in the following overseas countries:
- Afganistan, Australia, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belgium, Canada, China, France, Hong Kong, Iran, Kenya, Lebanon, Maldives, Nepal, Netherlands, Nigeria, Oman, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Turkey, UAE, UK & USA.
Habib Bank offers the basic range of banking services to its customers, to include Commercial, Corporate, Investment, and Retail Banking, Treasury, and Islamic Banking.
- 1941 Mohammed Ali Jinnah, Pakistan's founding father, realized the importance of financial intermediation while he was campaigning for the creation of a separate homeland for the Muslims of India. He persuaded a group of wealthy businessmen to establish a commercial bank that could serve the Indian Muslim community. His initiative resulted in the creation of Habib Bank, with HO in Bombay and fixed capital of 25,000 rupees. The bank played an important role in mobilizing funds from the Muslim community to finance the All-India Muslim League]'s campaign for the establishment of Pakistan. Habib Bank also played an important role in channelling relief funds to the people hurt by repeated communal riots and violence that preceded the departure of the British from India. Habib Bank Limited established itself in Karachi in 1943 and after Pakistan was born, at the urging of Governor-General Jinnah, moved its headquarters to Karachi, Pakistan's first capital.
- 1947 HO moves to Karachi. This gave Karachi its first commercial bank of the newly formed Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
- 1951 HBL opens first of 3 branches in Sri Lanka.
- 1952 HBL establishes Habib Bank (Overseas).
- 1956 HBL opens first of 5 branches in Kenya.
- 1957 or 1958 HBL opens a branch in Aden.
- 1961 HBL opens first of 6 branches in the UK.
- 1964 HBL opens first of 4 branches in Mauritius and a branch in Beirut.
- 1966 HBL opens the first of 8 branches in the UAE.
- 1969 HBL opens first of 3 branches and an OBU in Bahrain. However, HB’s branch in Aden is nationalized.
- 1971 HBL opens an OBU in Singapore and a branch in New York.
- 1972 HBL opens the first of 11 branches in Oman.
- 1974 The government of Pakistan nationalizes HBL and HBL merges with Habib Bank (Overseas).
- 1975 HBL opens a branch in Belgium. HBL also merges with Standard Bank, a Pakistani bank.
- 1976 HBL opens a branch in the Seychelles, the first of two branches in Bangladesh, and a branch in the Maldives.
- 1979 HBL opens a branch in the Netherlands.
- 1980 HBL opens a branch in Paris and another in Hong Kong.
- 1981 HBL establishes Nigeria Habib Bank with 40% ownership. HB also opens a representative office in Teheran.
- 1982 HBL opens a branch in Khartoum.
- 1983 HBL opens branch in the Karachi EPZ and a branch in Istanbul.
- 1984 HBL establishes Habib American Bank in New York with a branch each in Manhattan and Queens, and a US International Banking Facility. HBL also opens a branch in California.
- 1987 HBL opens in Australia.
- 1991 HBL opens a branch in the Fiji Islands, and takes over the Paksistani branches of failed bank, BCCI.
- 1992 In Nepal HBL acquires 20% of Himalayan Bank.
- 1995 HBL establishes a representative office in Cairo.
- 1990s HBL establishes Habib Finance (Australia), and Habib Finance International Limited, Hong Kong.
- 2000 HBL establishes Habib Canadian Bank.
- 2002 HBL's UK operation came close to being shut down due to regulatory issues with the Financial Services Authority. The issue was resolved by launching the UK subsidiary, Habib Bank Limited. Then Habib Bank Limited and Allied Bank of Pakistan merged their operations into a new bank, called Habib-Allied International Bank Limited. Habib Bank has 90.5 percent shareholding, while Allied Bank has 9.5 percent. Simultaneously with the transfer of business to the new bank, both Allied and Habib Bank close down in UK. A Board of Directors of which HBL has 90 percent control, manages the new bank. Habib contributed its 6 branches and Allied its 4.
- 2003 HBL received permission to open a branch in Afghanistan.
- 2006 HBL sold the operations that it had established in Fiji in 1991 to Bank of South Pacific.
| This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. This section has been tagged since July 2007. |
Habib bank has long been scrutinized by U.S. intelligence officials monitoring terrorist money flows.[3]
On July 18, 2007, Mariane Pearl, the widow of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, filed a lawsuit against Habib Bank Ltd over the 2002 abduction, torture and murder of her husband. The pending lawsuit alleges the bank and its subsidiaries knowingly conducted financial transactions and provided account services on behalf of Al Akhtar Trust, a Pakistani based charity trust. Al Akhtar Trust’s accounts have been used to provide financial support to terrorists.[4] However, HBL claims to have froze Al Akhtar Trust’s accounts several years before Daniel Pearl’s abduction.[5]
On October 24, 2007, Pearl's lawsuit against HBL was formally dropped. Lawyers for Mariane Pearl noted that Habib Bank Limited and the other defendants in the case had not answered the lawsuit filed in July (although Habib Bank Limited had denied ever supporting terrorism)[6], but they otherwise did not explain their reason for dropping the action.[7]
The U.S. Federal Reserve Board and the New York State Banking Department criticized Habib Bank Limited for failing to address deficiencies in its compliance with U.S. anti-money laundering laws. After the U.S. Federal Reserve Board threatened formal charges, though none were filed, Habib Bank Limited agreed to strengthen the banks compliance.[8] More specifically, the Fed ordered HBL to strengthen its transaction monitoring systems and the filing of "suspicious activity reports" on transactions that do not fit the routine business patterns of the bank's customer base.
It was also denied entry into the Indian market for fears that it might allow militants easier access to jihadi funds from Pakistan.[citation needed]
- ^ "Summary of Project Information, Habib Bank Ltd", Summary of Project Information, Habib Bank Ltd - International Finance Corporation, 2006-12-01. Retrieved on 2007-12-05.
- ^ "History", HBL, 2007-12-05. Retrieved on 2007-12-05.
- ^ Michael Isikoff and Mark Hosenball (April 7, 2004). Terror Watch: Tangled Ties. Newsweek.
- ^ U.S. Designates Al Akhtar Trust. Retrieved on 2007-07-22.
- ^ "HBL froze banned charities’ accounts before Daniel Pearl’s abduction". Retrieved on 2007-07-22.
- ^ Reuters (25 October 2007). Pearl widow drops lawsuit against al Qaeda. ABC News (Australia). “"The withdrawal was done for personal reasons that had nothing to do with the merits of the lawsuit," a spokesperson for Mrs Pearl's lawyers Motley Rice said... The bank denied [, saying that] it had never supported terrorism.”
- ^ Associated Press (24 October 2007). Daniel Pearl’s widow drops terror lawsuit: Wife of murdered journalist sought damages from al-Qaida, Pakistan bank. MSNBC. “Mariane Pearl was represented by Motley Rice, a law firm based in Mount Pleasant, S.C. The firm has brought other suits against Middle Eastern banks and companies on behalf of Sept. 11 victims.”
- ^ "Pakistani bank agrees to U.S. money-launder order". Retrieved on 2007-07-22.