Bank Asia set to take over Bank Alfalah

Bank Asia, a private sector bank, is set to acquire the Bangladesh chapter of Pakistan-based Bank Alfalah. Bank Asia made the proposal earlier.

The board of directors of Bank Alfalah gave an approval in principle for the acquisition of its activities, wealth and liabilities in Bangladesh by Bank Asia, said the Pakistan Stock Exchange and several media reports in the country on Wednesday.

Bank Asia started operations in 1999. This is the third time the private sector bank has initiated to take over the Bangladesh chapter of any foreign bank.

Earlier, it acquired Canada-based Nova Scotia and another Pakistan-based bank Muslim Commercial Bank.

Bank Asia managing director Sohel RK Hussain told Prothom Alo that they cannot speak about this since this is a value sensitive issue. He further said that they would inform the media about this later.

However, Bank Alfalah said in a statement to Pakistan Stock Exchange that the acquisition of its operations in Bangladesh will be done in compliance with all the relevant laws and regulations.

Bank Alfalah will now seek the approval of the country’s central bank, the State Bank of Pakistan, to complete the acquisition process.