Global IME Bank and Janata Bank begin joint operation in earnest; Major dignitaries make appearance in the event

Global IME and Janata Bank Nepal has begun its joint operation from today amongst a program at the premises of Gloabl IME Bank Limited, Kamaladi. The program was attended by FM Dr. Khatiwada as the chief guest under the chairmanship of Chairman of GBIME Mr. Dhakal, Chairman of JBNL Mr Keshav Bdr. Rayamajhi, Pawan Golyan, Chairman of NBA Mr. Dhungana, Governor Dr. Chiranjivi Nepal, Deputy Governor Mr. Siwakoti, Chairman of Chamber of Commerce Rajesh Kaji Shrestha and other dignitaries.

Keshav Rayamajhi, Chairman of JBNL said, "We have moved with this merger with a view to develop a strong goodwill and capital foundation. Having a good capital fund will enable us to fund large projects that are crucial to the development of out country. Prior to this GBIME had merged and acquired 10 BFIs and JBNL had acquired 6 BFIs. Thus, the GBIME operating from today will be an amalgamation to 18 BFIs."

Chairman of NBA, Gyanendra Dhungana said, "Merger and acquisitions have been a priority for two three years. Many mergers and acquisitions happened between class B, C and D, while merger between class A banks aren't there. This merger of 18 different BFIs is praise worthy and sets an example for further M&A in coming days."

Chairman of BFIs Institution Pawan Golyan said, "This association is built to play the role of bridge between NBA and the government especially in policy matters. Similarly, we will be providing research based suggestions such as how can we benefit from US China trade war and so on."

Chairman of Chamber of Commerce Rajesh Kaji Shrestha said, "When this merger was happening, business people like us were thinking why is the merger happening. When there were it was good for us due to competition but it was explained to us that this will bring down costs too. So our hope was the interest will also go down, which hasn't happened yet. So I would like to request the concerned parties to explain this. Similarly, our credit takes 6 months to collect but the VAT and interest payable to bank is very strict. So I want to request Finance Minister and Bankers to look into this. Either provide us lenient VAT and interest payable period or some other alternative as this has significantly increased our costs which is increasing costs for the end consumers too."

Governor Dr. Nepal said, "This is a proud example and I want to convey to all banking personnel that NRB will continue with merger policy. Whatever decision NRB takes has been done after research and therefore other banks are also encouraged to merge. I feel ashamed to say that a staff of bank doesn't know who to give the cheque. This shows the type of people banks are hiring. NRB has made 3% investment in human resource development compulsory but that seems to be not taking seriously. So we find that NRB also needs to intervene in this sector. Many bankers said that merging large banks is difficult due to differences in culture but this happened and it has set an example that it can be done. I would also like to point out that there is an overlapping between the bankers and business people. Today people representing industrial sector in this program also have banks. In that sector I don't think NRB has a role to play, it should be Corporate Governance in your part. In addition I also want to suggest Chairman to pressurize the CEOs to increase profit."

Giving the closing remarks for the program Finance Minister Dr. Yubaraj Khatiwada said, "In global scenario, we can see that banks have big big buildings. I used think it was done in correspondence with there capital but I came to find that it had a psychological impact. Bigger building helped depositors feel safe and trusted the bank. I haven't seen GBIME's building but it's book is now big. Just being big isn't full criteria for being safe but it is a step."