KARACHI: United Bank Limited (UBL) has announced to establish its own exchange company, ARY News reported.
As per details, the announcement came after the Board of Directors (BoD) meeting approved the “establishment of an EC with Rs1 billion as initial paid-up capital, as wholly-owned subsidiary of UBL”.
The establishment of exchange companies by bank have started after the ban on B-category exchange companies and the SBP has recently permitted banks to set up exchange companies.
Read more: Nexus b/w illegal money exchanges and bankers exposed
“As part of these reforms, leading banks actively engaged in foreign exchange business will establish wholly-owned Exchange Companies (EC) to cater to the legitimate foreign exchange needs of general public,” the SBP official statement said.
Furthermore, UBL has also decided to sell its 55 percent share in the United National Bank Limited (UNBL UK) to Bestway Group (BG).
Earlier, a nexus between illegal money-exchanges and bankers was exposed in investigations by various agencies.
Illegal money-exchanges orchestrated a nexus with various banks for money hoarding, sources said. “Islamabad’s 78 bankers and cashiers have been involved in this illegal arrangement,” according to sources.
The bankers arranged lockers in cahoots with the people involved in illegal business, sources said. Sources claimed that Crores of dollars have been deposited in these lockers.