By Mushfiq Ahmad

KARACHI: Following MCB Bank and Habib Bank Limited, JS Bank has also expressed interest in acquiring RBS Pakistan.

JS Bank said on Tuesday it was interested in acquiring entire shareholding of ABN Amro N.V. in RBS Pakistan and that it had been invited to conduct due diligence of RBS Pakistan.

It said it would apply to the State Bank of Pakistan through the financial advisors of RBS to obtain the requisite permission to commence due diligence of RBS Pakistan.

JS Bank Limited has been formed after the merger and amalgamation of Jahangir Siddiqui Investment Bank Limited and commercial banking operations of American Express Bank Ltd Pakistan. JS Bank Limited commenced operations in Pakistan as a fully scheduled bank on December 30, 2006. According to its website, the total number of branches reached twenty-four with entry in Quetta and Rawalpindi in September and October last year.

RBS Pakistan had announced in February that it was exploring new ownership for the retail, commercial, GBM and GTS businesses in Pakistan. It said there had been several reasons why this decision had been made.

The annual report of RBS Pakistan for 2008 said it had been decided by the new management of RBS plc to revisit its global footprints in various countries to decide about the future world wide strategic presence to ensure optimum capital rationing. Based on the results of a strategic review conducted for all the locations, RBS Plc had announced its intention to explore new ownership for its businesses in fifteen countries including Pakistan.

The report added: "Local management of the bank is fully committed to RBS Pakistan with an increased focus on business growth during the year 2009. The main challenge remains managing the assets quality, which has negatively affected our profitability. We are working on tightening risk parameters to ensure a reduction in this charge in the years to come. Further, high costs remains a challenge for the upcoming period. We are committed to rationalize expenses in order to improve our operating efficiency ratios."


http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp...2009_pg5_5