United Bank Limited

United Bank Limited (UBL) (یونائیٹڈ بینک) is a Pakistani multinational commercial bank which is based in Karachi, Pakistan.

For the year 2020, UBL was designated domestic systemically important bank (D-SIB) by the State Bank of Pakistan.

It is listed on the Pakistan Stock Exchange. Its largest shareholder is the British investment company Bestway Group who own 62.13% of the business.

History
Agha Hasan Abedi founded the bank in November 1958, and it became the second-largest bank in Pakistan. In 1974, the Government of Pakistan nationalized the bank.

In 2002, the Government of Pakistan sold 51% of its shares of the bank to a consortium of Abu Dhabi Group and Bestway. Also, the bank merged its operations in the United Kingdom with those belonging to National Bank of Pakistan to form United National Bank Limited. United Bank owns 55% of the joint-venture and National Bank of Pakistan owns the remainder.

In August 2003, UBL launched Pakistan's first derivative money market product.

In February 2005 UBL became the first bank in South Asia to launch the EMV enabled credit card. In June 2005 with the launch of "UBL Money", a fixed installment personal loan product, UBL became the only bank in Pakistan to provide a complete suite of consumer financing products. In August 2005 UBL became the first bank to achieve the "Authorised Derivatives Dealer" status in Pakistan – the only domestic bank to achieve this status.

In June 2007 the Global Depository Receipts of UBL were listed on the London Stock Exchange. The offering targeted institutional investors and raised exceeding US$650 million. UBL is the only Pakistani bank and one of the only two Pakistani companies that are listed on the London Stock Exchange.

In April 2010, UBL launched UBL Omni, an in-house developed project designed to provide banking facilities to the unbanked population of Pakistan. As of June 2014 UBL Omni had a customer base exceeding 6.8 million, with over 1.5 million active cards in issue and 5 million monthly transactions valued at over US$253 million. Through the success of UBL Omni 1.55 million previously unbanked individuals have opened mobile bank accounts with UBL in Pakistan. Today, Omni Dukaan network has grown to 42,100 agents in Pakistan.

In January 2011, Bestway Group increased its shareholding in UBL to 51.07% by acquiring an additional 20% of the shares from the Abu Dhabi Group. This was a total investment of US$230.0 million in Pakistan's second-largest private commercial bank.

The Bank added 200 branches in 2011 and 2012, thus increasing its domestic network to over 1,300 online branches with 800 ATMs.

In June 2012, UBL led a consortium which acquired a 67.4% stake in Khushhali Bank, which is the largest micro-finance institution in Pakistan.

In December 2013, the Bestway Group increased its shareholding in UBL to 61.37% by acquiring an additional 10.3% of the shares from the Abu Dhabi Group. Through an investment of over $120 million, the Bestway Group acquired the entire shareholding of its former joint venture partner, the Abu Dhabi Group.

In June 2014, the Government of Pakistan sold its remaining 19.8% stake in UBL for US$387 million ($310m of which was in foreign exchange). This was Pakistan's first transaction in the global equity market in almost eight years.

In 2017, the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) filed a criminal case against Khalid Iqbal, head of capital markets at United Bank Limited, and three of his accomplices for front running. The case involved two unusual purchases of Gharibwal Cement Limited shares by UBL, authorized by Iqbal. Investigations revealed that Iqbal's accomplices bought shares at lower prices and sold them to UBL at higher prices. The court convicted all four individuals, concluding that they made illegal profits and caused financial losses to UBL.

In November 2018, UBL announced that it was voluntarily shutting down its New York City branch due to it being commercially nonviable to operate.

UBL announced on 12 June 2021 that it was winding up its wholly owned Switzerland subsidiary, UBL (Switzerland) AG, which it had owned since 1967. The process completed on 2 June 2023.

UBL announced on 12 September 2023 that its largest shareholder, Bestway Group, had submitted an "Indicative Offer" to acquire UBL's 55% shareholding in its United Kingdom joint venture with the National Bank of Pakistan, United National Bank Limited "UNBL UK". This was approved by the Board of Directors of UBL but is conditional on the approval of the State Bank of Pakistan.

Current operations
Today, UBL is the largest bank in the private sector in Pakistan and has over 1,390 branches nationwide, 18 overseas branches, a significant presence throughout the Middle East, and representative offices in Beijing and Kazakhstan.

Former operations
UBL formerly used to have subsidiaries in the United Kingdom and Switzerland and a branch in New York.

Awards and honors
In May 2016, UBL was adjudged ‘Best Bank 2016’ at the first Pakistan Banking Awards held under the auspices of the Institute of Bankers Pakistan. The ‘Best Bank’ category recognizes a bank that has demonstrated the most significant contribution to national development and the most effective management of its resources including its employees, clients, franchise, community, and financials.

Also in 2016, JCR-VIS Credit Rating Company Limited (JCR-VIS) has upgraded the entity ratings of United Bank Limited (UBL) to ‘AAA/A-1+’ (Triple A/A-One Plus). The year also saw the UBL Facebook page exceeding 1 Million likes, making it the first Pakistani bank to cross a million fans on Facebook. The achievement reinforces its reputation as a Progressive and Innovative bank.

UBL has become the only bank to win the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) “Top Companies of the Year” Award for three consecutive years (2016-18). The awards for the three years, were presented at a ceremony held in Karachi recently. The Prime Minister of Pakistan, Mr. Imran Khan, who was the Chief Guest at the event, gave away the awards. Ms. Sima Kamil, former President and CEO UBL, received the awards from the Prime Minister Mr. Imran Khan, on behalf of the Bank.

FinCEN
United Bank was named in the FinCEN Files, published by BuzzFeed News and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ). It had eight suspicious transactions from 2011 to 2012 flagged, totaling to $399,620.

Other subsidiaries

 * UBL Fund Managers Limited
 * UBL Insurers Limited
 * UBL OMNI