Habib Bank
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For a later enterprise with a similar name, see Bank AL Habib
HBL
Type
Founded
Public Limited Company
Bombay (now Mumbai), in 1941.
Headquarters Habib Bank Plaza, Karachi,
Industry
Products
Revenue
Net income
Website
Banking
Capital Markets
Loans, Credit Cards, Savings, Consumer
Banking etc.
▲PKR 50.481 bn (USD 814.2 mln) 2007[1]
▲PKR 10.084 bn (USD 162.6 mln) 2007[1]
www.hbl.com
Habib Bank Limited (Urdu: ‫ " بي بي َح‬sa ot derrefer ylnommoc )‫ن ك‬HBL" and headquartered in Habib Bank Plaza, Karachi, Pakistan, is the largest bank in Pakistan. The
bank has a network of over 1450 branches in Pakistan and 55 branches worldwide. It has
a domestic market share of over 40%. It continues to dominate the commercial banking
sector with a major market share in inward foreign remittances (55%) and loans to small
industries, traders and farmers. Overseas, it has operations in the following countries:
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Afganistan, Australia, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belgium, Canada, China, France,
Hong Kong, Iran, Kenya, Lebanon, Maldives, Nepal, Netherlands, Nigeria,
Oman, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Turkey, UAE, UK & USA.
Contents
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1 Mission
2 Services
3 History
4 Controversy
5 See also
6 External links
7 References
[edit] Mission
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.
[edit] Services
Habib Bank offers the basic range of banking services to its customers, to include
Commercial, Corporate, Investment, and Retail Banking, Treasury, and Islamic Banking.
[edit] History
The branches of Habib Bank in Pakistan
HBL Plaza in Karachi
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 the Habib family to establish a commercial bank that
could serve the Indian Muslim community. His initiative resulted in the creation of Habib
Bank in 1941, with HO in Bombay (now Mumbai), 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 channeling relief funds to the people hurt in the
communal riots and violence that preceded the departure of the British from India.
After Pakistan was born in 1947, Habib Bank, at the urging of Governor-General Jinnah,
moved its headquarters to Karachi, Pakistan's first capital. This gave Karachi its first
commercial bank of the newly formed Islamic Republic of Pakistan. The Habib family
owned and managed the bank until the Pakistan government nationalized it on 1 January
1974.
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1951 HBL opened the first of 3 branches in Sri Lanka.
1952 HBL established Habib Bank (Overseas).
1956 HBL opened first of 5 branches in Kenya.
1957 or 1958 HBL opened a branch in Aden.
1961 HBL opened the first of what would become 6 branches in the UK.
1964 HBL opened the first of 4 branches in Mauritius and a branch in Beirut.
1966 HBL opened the first of 8 branches in the UAE.
1969 HBL opened first of 3 branches and an OBU in Bahrain. However, HB’s
branch in Aden is nationalized.
1971 HBL opened an OBU in Singapore and a branch in New York.
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1972 HBL opened the first of 11 branches in Oman. HBL constructed Habib Bank
Plaza in Karachi to commemorate the bank’s 25th Anniversary.
1974 The government of Pakistan nationalized HBL and HBL merged with Habib
Bank (Overseas).
1975 HBL opened a branch in Belgium. HBL also merged with Standard Bank, a
Pakistani bank.
1976 HBL opened a branch in the Seychelles, the first of two branches in
Bangladesh, and a branch in the Maldives.
1979 HBL opened a branch in the Netherlands.
1980 HBL opened a branch in Paris and another in Hong Kong.
1981 HBL established Nigeria Habib Bank with 40% ownership. HBL also
opened a representative office in Teheran.
1982 HBL opened a branch in Khartoum.
1983 HBL opened branch in the Karachi EPZ and a branch in Istanbul.
1984 HBL established Habib American Bank in New York with a branch each in
Manhattan and Queens, and a US International Banking Facility. HBL also
opened a branch in California.
1987 HBL opened in Australia.
1991 The Habib Group established a separate private bank, the Bank AL Habib,
after private banking was re-established in Pakistan. HBL opened a branch in the
Fiji Islands, and took over the Paksistani branches of failed bank, BCCI.
1992 In Nepal HBL acquired 20% of Himalayan Bank.
1995 HBL established a representative office in Cairo.
1990s HBL established Habib Finance (Australia), and Habib Finance
International Limited, Hong Kong.
2000 HBL established Habib Canadian Bank.
2002 On June 13, 2002 Pakistan's Privatization Commission announced that the
Government of Pakistan had 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). [2]
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HBL's UK operation came close to being shut down due to regulatory issues with
the Financial Services Authority. The issue was resolved by converting the
operations to a subsidiary. Then Habib Bank Limited and Allied Bank of Pakistan
merged their operations (Habib contributed its 6 branches and Allied its 4), into a
new bank, called Habib-Allied International Bank, in which Habib Bank has a
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 all independent operations in the UK.
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2003 HBL received permission to open a branch in Afghanistan.
2004 On February 26, the Government of Pakistan handed over management
control of Habib Bank 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.[3]
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2006 HBL sold the operations that it had established in Fiji in 1991 to Bank of
South Pacific.
2009 HBL was granted permission to open Remnibi accounts in China. It already
has training and shareholding arrangements with Urumqi Commercial Bank [4].
[edit] Controversy
This section needs additional citations for verification.
Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be
challenged and removed. (July 2007)
Habib bank has long been scrutinized by intelligence officials monitoring terrorist money
flows.[5]
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.[6] However, HBL claims to have froze Al Akhtar Trust’s
accounts several years before Daniel Pearl’s abduction.[7]
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)[8], but they otherwise did not explain their reason for dropping the
action.[9]
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. antimoney 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.[10] 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.
[edit] See also
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Economy of Pakistan
Habib Bank Plaza
List of Banks in Pakistan
[edit] External links
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Habib Bank
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hblEbank - Habib Bank's Internet Banking Website
[edit] References
1. ^ a b
http://www.habibbankltd.com/downloads/pdf/annual/2007/group/financialstateme
nts-group-consolidated.pdf
2. ^ "Summary of Project Information, Habib Bank Ltd". Summary of Project
Information, Habib Bank Ltd - International Finance Corporation. 2006-12-01.
http://www.ifc.org/ifcext/mena.nsf/Content/SelectedProject?OpenDocument&UN
ID=2F7B86026209A7058525712A006D6C23. Retrieved on 2007-12-05.
3. ^ "History". HBL. 2007-12-05. http://hbl.com/about-us-history.php. Retrieved on
2007-12-05.
4. ^ http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2009\04\10\story_10-42009_pg5_13
5. ^ Michael Isikoff and Mark Hosenball (April 7, 2004). "Terror Watch: Tangled
Ties". Newsweek. http://www.newsweek.com/id/53487.
6. ^ "U.S. Designates Al Akhtar Trust".
http://www.treas.gov/press/releases/js899.htm. Retrieved on 2007-07-22.
7. ^ ""HBL froze banned charities’ accounts before Daniel Pearl’s abduction"".
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007\07\21\story_21-72007_pg7_9. Retrieved on 2007-07-22.
8. ^ Reuters (25 October 2007). "Pearl widow drops lawsuit against al Qaeda". ABC
News (Australia). http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/10/25/2069844.htm.
""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."
9. ^ Associated Press (24 October 2007). "Daniel Pearl’s widow drops terror
lawsuit: Wife of murdered journalist sought damages from al-Qaida, Pakistan
bank". MSNBC. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21459331/. "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."
10. ^ ""Pakistani bank agrees to U.S. money-launder order"".
http://asia.news.yahoo.com/061221/3/2uqpg.html. Retrieved on 2007-07-22.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habib_Bank"
Categories: Banks of Pakistan | Companies headquartered in Karachi | Companies listed
on the Karachi Stock Exchange