UBL announces to wind up its US branches in New York
KARACHI: The United Bank Limited (UBL) Thursday announced to wind up its branch network in United States of America (USA), a company notice to Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) said.
“The UBL intends to voluntary liquidate and surrender its license in accordance with New York Banking law,” the notice said. The decision is subject to regulatory approval and is in line with UBL’s global realignment strategy, based on commercial viability of the branch, the notice added.
As per UBL’s 2017 annual report, New York operations contributed 0.08 per cent to total profit before tax of the bank. Moreover, the analysts are of the view that closure of New York operations is unlikely to have material impact on Banks profitability, as per our channel checks.
The written agreement between the Bank and Federal Reserve Bank of New York (FRBNY) is still in place and the bank is in close contact with the concerned authorities. The closure of that agreement is still pending and is dependent on the regulator, the analyst said.
To recall, UBL and its New York Branch entered into a written Agreement in 2018 with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York (FRBNY), effective July 2, 2018 upon termination of earlier written agreement entered into October 28, 2013. The agreement requires UBL to strengthen its Bank Secrecy and Anti Money Laundering compliance, Customer Due Diligence and Suspicious Activity Monitoring and Reporting Programmes.
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