Agha Hasan Abedi Founder of United Bank Limited (UBL)
Biography of Agha Hasan Abedi
Early Life
Agha Hasan Abedi Founder of United Bank Limited (UBL) was born on 14th May, 1922 in Lucknow, British India. He belonged to a Sindhi family of Shia sect. He was famous and commonly known as Agha Sahab. After the partition of India and Pakistan he migrated to Pakistan. After completing his education he started his carrier from a bank.
Life as a Banker
He started his carrier as a banker before the independence of Pakistan from a bank named Habib Bank. After the independence of Pakistan he migrated there and continued his carrier as a banker. He was responsible for so many changes in the banking culture of Pakistan.
Founder of United Bank Ltd. (UBL)
His changing in the culture of Pakistan began with the foundation of a new bank in Chittagong, a part of Pakistan at that time and now it is a part of Bangladesh, which was founded by him in 1959. He named that bank as the United Bank Ltd. Initially he became the first general manager of newly formed bank. After some progress he went on to the designations of its president and the chairman of its board of directors. Under his leadership and management this bank became very famous and achieved the second slot in the rankings as the largest banks of Pakistan.
The changes that he made in the culture of banks of that time were so much attractive. He introduced professional innovators. The concept of personal care services, and banking services in trading and industry were the part of those innovations. Apart from these activities, he paid attention in particular to the foreign affairs of the bank. He got every opportunity from the boom of oil in the Persian Gulf. He formulated and maintained relationship between private banking sector of Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Due to his un-tired efforts, the President of UAE, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan was ready to invest in the UBL bank, in both terms, local and abroad.
United Bank Limited (UBL)
United Bank Limited is one of the most successful institutions of Pakistan in its financial sector. It is involved in the list of the largest commercial banks of the country. It is being operated in more than 1,320 branches within the country providing all branches online facilities. Moreover, there are 15 branches of the bank that are under operations throughout the world’s different areas. The foreign branches of this bank are present in the United States of America, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Republic of Yemen, and Qatar. It also has some offices in Iran’s Tehran, China’s Beijing, and Kazakhstan’s Almaty as its representatives.
This bank also has some subsidiaries that are being operated in the United Kingdom and Zurich, Switzerland. The subsidiary that is under operational condition in the United Kingdom is United National Bank Limited.
It was founded in 1959. It went nationalized in 1971 by the Government of Pakistan. In 2002 it was sold in an auction to Abu Dhabi Group’s consortium and Bestway by the Government of Pakistan.
BCCI Bank
Apart from UBL, he was also the founder of another bank named Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI). He founded that bank after the UBL was nationalized and the fall of Bangladesh in 1971. He also moved to Karachi. His efforts led BCCI to the rank of seventh largest private bank of the world. But that bank was shutdown in 1991, when his involvement was founded in a money laundering scandal by regulatory authorities of the United States and the United Kingdom.
As a Philanthropist
Apart from a banker, he was also known for his charitable works, which he did throughout different countries of the world in his life. He founded so many local and international organizations. He founded organizations in Bangladesh, India, Zimbabwe, UK, and his home country Pakistan.
Death
After the scandal of money laundering, he suffered from heart disease and passed through heart transplant in 1988. His heart problems further increased and due to a heart attack which occurred on 5th August, 1995 at Karachi, he died. Several places and awards, prizes were named after him.
References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agha_Hasan_Abedi
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Bank_Limited_Pakistan
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