TC Nov-Dec 2021 Issue

TRADE CHRONICLE
UBL partners with U Bank to promote
financial inclusion in Pakistan
United Bank Limited (UBL) and U
Microfinance Bank Limited (U Bank)
recently signed a Memorandum of
Understanding to promote financial
inclusion in Pakistan and to open up
multiple avenues for collaboration,
including medium to long term
debt funding, retail TFC, Islamic
Microfinance
F u n d i n g ,
commercial
paper and
synergizing
their respective
business to
scale. The
ceremony was
held in UBL
Head Office in
Karachi.
The signing ceremony was presided
by Shazad G Dada, President & CEO
UBL and Kabeer Naqvi, President &
CEO U Microfinance Bank Limited
along with senior executives of both
banks including Farooq A Khan,
Group Head CIBG & FI, Muhammad
Tayyab Khurshid, Unit Head FI and
other executives from UBL and
Mariam Pervaiz, Chief Commercial
Officer & Chief of Staff, Muhammad
IAP, CDC sign MoU
Insurance Association of Pakistan (IAP)
and Central Depository Company
of Pakistan Limited (CDC) signed
a Memorandum of Understanding
(MoU) for the digital aggregation of
insurance products through CDC’s
Emalaak Financials platform, a
statement said.
Under the regulatory impetus of
Securities and Exchange Commission
of Pakistan (SECP), the agreement aims
to provide low-cost and centralised
solution to insurance policy holders
by providing comparative cost benefit
analysis of different products on a
Farooq Kamran, Head
of CB&I and Mohsin
Aslam, Head Budgeting
Planning and Corporate
Finance from U Microfinance Bank
Limited.
Shazad G Dada, President & CEO UBL,
at the event, said “As the ‘Best Digital
Bank’ of Pakistan, we are looking
forward to our strategic alliance with
U Bank, with the aim of expanding
the scope
of financial
inclusion across
the country.
It presents
an exciting
opportunity
to further
strengthen our
digital prowess
to bring state
of the art financial solutions to our
combined customer bases.”
Kabeer Naqvi, President & CEO U Bank
said “We are delighted to establish
this partnership, which is aimed at
exploring avenues to collaborate,
design innovative products and work
together in moving the banking sector
forward. This alliance will help us
serve more customers and bring more
Pakistanis in to the banking net.”
centralised platform.
Sadia Khan, commissioner at SECP,
presided the MoU signing ceremony at
the CDC House in Karachi.
“This fintech solution of ‘Emlaak
Financials’ is a landmark initiative
of national significance, aiming to
become ‘digital financial super market’
in Pakistan by leveraging the potential
of technology to increase outreach for
various financial products.” CEO at
CDC Badiuddin Akber said.
Addressing the occasion, Sadia Khan
said digital transformation is expected
to have an impact throughout
the insurance value chain, from
underwriting and pricing of products,
their marketing and distribution,
through to claims processing and the
ongoing customer servicing.
This is expected to lead to a reduction
in the protection gap as new market
segments are accessed as well as an
increase in the insurance penetration,
she added.
Nov - Dec - 2021
NBP joins hands with
ICAP to offer training
to CA students
National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) has
entered into an arrangement with the
Institute of Chartered Accountants of
Pakistan (ICAP) to offer articles training
to the Chartered Accountancy students
throughout the country. A ceremony in
this connection was held on December
17, 2021 at the Bank’s Head Office
and was attended by existing and
past ICAP Council members and CA
professionals from industry.
Addressing the audience, President of
the Bank Mr. Arif Usmani encouraged
the idea of promoting professional
excellence through extensive training
and grooming of young finance
professionals as future visionaries and
economic leaders of the country. This
goes well with the Bank’s Vision to be
the Nation’s Leading Bank Enabling
Sustainable Growth and Inclusive
Development. The Bank has capacity
to induct up to 75 trainees at any point
in time. Placement will be offered
initially at the Bank’s Head Office and
then throughout the Country, thus
creating a nationwide opportunity for
those students who cannot relocate to
bigger cities to pursue CA qualification.
Extensive learning plans offered by
the Bank include rotated placement
of trainees in all key functions of
the Bank, particularly in Finance,
Audit, Risk, Operations, Compliance,
Treasury, IT, HR, etc.
The Bank will support deserving
trainees through reimbursement of
the cost of approved study materials
as well as examination fees. The
arcticleship training programme
is regulated by the ICAP to ensure
quality & comprehensive training
programme for producing talented
Chartered Accountants. The audience
appreciated this initiative of NBP as
an excellent opportunity for young
CA professionals, and acknowledged
contributions of the Bank towards
economic growth in the country over
the last seven decades.
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