National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) has planned to shut its branch operations in the capital of France, Paris.
The board of directors has approved the closure of yet another foreign branch, according to official sources. The closure of the bank’s operation in a few foreign countries is the strategy of the state-owned bank to consolidate the overseas operations in cities where branches are not performing up to the mark financially.
The bank has already shut down three foreign branches in different countries, namely Bangladesh (Sylhet), Afghanistan (Jalalabad), and Uzbekistan (Tashkent), in recent months. The bank is working to shut down one more branch in Turkmenistan (Ashgabat) and two subsidiaries in Tajikistan (Dushanbe) and Kazakhstan (Almaty). The licenses of these outlets have been canceled by the banking regulators of the host countries, and the closure of branches is underway these days.
In Paris, the National Bank of Pakistan has been operating its branches for the past many decades. Besides this branch, Habib Bank Limited was also operating a branch in Paris, which was also shut down a few years ago.
Back in 2008, a Paris court fined the National Bank of Pakistan 200,000 Euros ($265,000) and gave two-year suspended jail sentences to two of its officials for their alleged role in a money-laundering scheme.
The global footprint of the Pakistani banks has been reducing for the past three years because of various challenges, including tough regulatory conditions, competition, and alternate ways of services through technology.
Local banks, with their falling income from the foreign markets, are considering shutting down their operations while shifting to digital solutions for serving overseas Pakistanis in different countries.
