Habib Metro launches wholly-owned exchange subsidiary

June 04, 2024 (MLN): HABIB METRO Exchange Services Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Habib Metropolitan Bank Limited (PSX: HMB), has formally commenced its operations.

The bank informed market participants of this development through a notice issued to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) today.

To recall, on October 10, 2023, the Board of Directors (BoD) of the bank approved the establishment of an Exchange Company with an initial paid-up capital of up to Rs1 billion.

Following this, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) issued the no-objection certificate on October 30, 2023. Later, on March 27, 2024, HMB secured a no-objection certificate from the central bank.

This development comes after the SBP introduced reforms for the banks engaged in foreign exchange business to establish wholly owned Exchange Companies (ECs) to cater to the legitimate foreign exchange needs of the general public.

This action taken by the central bank came in response to various regulatory issues observed in the operations of ECs.

With this initiative, the SBP aims to consolidate and transform various types of ECs into a single category with a well-defined mandate.

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