Habib Bank Limited (HBL) has brought over Rs. 3 billion to Pakistan after closing down its Hong Kong-based subsidiary, Habib Bank Finance International Limited.
Earlier this year, Habib Finance International Limited surrendered its license voluntarily and filed for voluntary liquidation which has commenced on July 7, 2020.
During the period, as part of a capital reduction plan prior to final liquidation, capital amounting to Rs. 3,021.200 million was repatriated to Pakistan, according to the half-year financial report.
The bank might receive returns from the assets and property in the foreign country and repatriate the remaining capital in the coming months after the completion of the liquidation of its subsidiary.
The bank has been operating the subsidiary since 1976 in Central Hong Kong which used to provide services such as the provision of loans, deposits saving, and trade financing services.
HBL is focusing on local operations in Pakistan, on the other hand, consolidating its business in foreign countries including winding-up bank branches and various business of financial services.
The bank has also finally shut down its branch in Seychelles (East Africa) following the approval from concerned regulators of the two countries and the completion of post-closure formalities.
It is continuing its spree to curtail its foreign operations since 2017 from the closure of a branch in France and a representative office in Iran. It was forced to exit from New York after the regulator enforced a heavy penalty in 2017 due to non-compliance with rules. The bank also merged its operations in Kenya with a Diamond Trust Bank and is now working to wind up its branch in Afghanistan on the basis of issues with the regulator of the operating country.
HBL’s management expressed its stance on the closure of its subsidiary for the rightsizing of operations and in order to bring efficiency in the system particularly in the international operations of the bank, which also includes its strategy of shifting focus to China Pakistan Economic Corridor.
