Afghanistan International Bank, owned by a consortium of Afghan and US investors and managed by ING?s Institutional and Government Advisory group (ING-IGA), has opened for business in Kabul.
The bank will start by providing inward and outward remittance facilities, cashier services, and current accounts for Afghan customers. It wants to move into trade finance and short-term and medium-term corporate loans in the coming months.
?We will provide for the financing needs of overseas-based Afghan nationals, as they look to repatriate money from around the world,? says John Haye, Afghanistan International Bank?s CEO.
Haye was previously an adviser with ING-IGA to Chang Hwa Bank in Taipei.
Investors in Afghanistan International Bank include the Afghan Investment Partners Corporation, established by shareholders in Afghanistan Reconstruction Company (ARC). ARC is an investment and construction company founded by Afghans in the US, the Middle East, and Europe. It is involved in the Kabul-Kandahar road project and Kabul?s Hyatt Hotel.
Others investors are Crest Holdings, an investment company owned by commodities trader the Mohib Group, and Wilton Holdings. Wilton Holdings is part of the Rahmat Group, which has textiles and fruit businesses in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
ING-IGA said that the Asian Development Bank (ADB) was interested in making an equity investment in the bank. ING-IGA has a three-year mandate to manage the bank, which is initially capitalized at $10 million.
ADB referred Afghanistan International Bank to ING-IGA after they worked together in Mongolia. ING-IGA provides management and technical support to the Trade & Development Bank of Mongolia, which is owned by US-based Gerald Metals and Switzerland?s Banca Commerciale Lugano.
Standard Chartered and National Bank of Pakistan both opened in Afghanistan last year. Standard Chartered has about 10 people in Kabul. Its primary business is trade finance. It also handles donor funds for aid organizations and NGOs.
