KARACHI: Pakistan central bank has granted approval to the Saudi National Bank (SNB), the immediate parent company of Samba Bank Pakistan (SBL), to start the sell-off process of SBL and undertake due-diligence, a bank notification said on Tuesday.
SNB in September this year announced that it was considering all its strategic options in relation to its shareholding in Samba Pakistan Limited, including potential mergers, acquisitions, divestment and/or restructuring as part of a strategic review. Subsequently, SNB announced that it had decided to divest SBL.
“The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has granted approval to Saudi National Bank (SNB) and its Advisers, team, to undertake Due-diligence of SBL, subject to compliance with applicable laws, rules and regulations,” a notification sent to the Pakistan stock exchange by SBL on Tuesday said.
SBL is a subsidiary of SNB, formally SAMBA Financial Group (SFG), which holds 84.51 percent shares of the bank as of September 30, 2021.
SNB will commence an orderly and well-managed divestment of SBL subject to final board evaluation of the offers received, the bank has informed its shareholders, saying it had appointed advisers to assist the SBL management with the process and as necessary, provide consultancy to the management of the Bank on engagements with regulators in Pakistan.
TSBL, which has a network of 43 branches located in 14 major cities across the country, will be offered for sale to potential buyers after the evaluation of the bank’s assets and liabilities.
SFG, from Saudi Arabia, entered into a legally binding merger agreement with The National Commercial Bank (NCB) of Saudi Arabia in October 2020, according to a financial report of Samba Bank. As per the agreement, SGF was merged into NCB with effect from April 2021 in accordance with the applicable laws of the kingdom and NCB was renamed the Saudi National Bank (SNB) from the effective date of merger.
Consequent to the merger, all assets and liabilities of SFG, including its shareholding in the Bank, stood vested in SNB by operation of law and SFG ceased to exist from the effective date of merger. State Bank of Pakistan had given its in-principle approval for SNB as the sponsor of the bank.
Saudi National Bank gets approval to start Samba Bank Pakistan sell-off process
https://arab.news/bqjky
Saudi National Bank gets approval to start Samba Bank Pakistan sell-off process
- Pakistan’s central bank grants approval to Saudi National Bank to undertake due-diligence of Samba Bank
- SNB, formally SAMBA Financial Group, holds majority 84.51 percent stakes in Samba Bank Pakistan
Challenges for millions pushed back to Afghanistan from Iran, Pakistan
- Over five million Afghans returned home since September 2023 as Iran, Pakistan ramp up deportations
- Those who returned face challenges in form of unemployment, lack of housing, shortage of electricity and water
KABUL: After decades hosting Afghans fleeing crises at home, Pakistan and Iran have ramped up deportations and forced millions back across the border to a country struggling to provide for them.
Whether arriving at the frontier surrounded by family or alone, Afghan returnees must establish a new life in a nation beset by poverty and environmental woes.
AFP takes a look at the people arriving in Afghanistan and the challenges they face.
FIVE MILLION
More than five million Afghans have returned home from Iran and Pakistan since September 2023, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
The figure equates to 10 percent of the country’s population, according to the agency’s deputy head in Afghanistan, Mutya Izora Maskun.
Three million returnees crossed the borders just last year, some of whom have spent decades living abroad.
Such a huge influx of people would be hard for any country to manage, Maskun said.
INADEQUATE HOUSING
Months after arriving in Afghanistan, 80 percent of people had no permanent home, according to an IOM survey of 1,339 migrants who returned between September 2023 and December 2024.
Instead, they had to live in temporary housing made from materials such as stone or mud.
More recently, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) spoke to Afghans who arrived back between January and August last year about their living arrangements.
Three-quarters of tenants said they could not afford their rent, while the majority of families were sharing rooms with up to four people, according to the survey of 1,658 returnees.
DESPERATE SEARCH FOR WORK
Just 11 percent of adults pushed back from Pakistan and Iran were fully employed, the IOM survey found.
For those who returned in the first few months of last year, the average monthly income was between $22 and $147, according to the UNHCR.
WATER, ELECTRICITY SHORTAGES
More than half the returnee households lack a stable electricity supply, according to the IOM.
The agency said that households headed by women faced “significantly higher vulnerabilities,” with around half of them struggling to access safe drinking water.
SPEEDING UP LAND DISTRIBUTION
More than 3,000 plots of land have been distributed to returnees nationwide, Hamdullah Fitrat, the Afghan government’s deputy spokesman, said in mid-January.
The process “was accelerated,” he said while recounting a special meeting with supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada.
On their arrival in Afghanistan, returnees usually receive help with transport, a SIM card and a small amount of money.
