3rd Issue | December 2010

I n - h o u s e N e w s l e t t e r f o r C i t y B a n k S t a f f

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CEO’SMESSAGE

I am extremely happy to see the revival of CityBarta with a refreshing new look after nearly a year long hiatus. A company newsletter can play an integral role in ensuring proper communication and keeping everyone on the same page. The value of effective internal communications cannot be overstated for organizations such as ours. It is my belief that employees who are better informed are more satisfied, feel more involved with the company and ultimately, contribute more to its success.

Speaking of success, City Bank was fortunate enough to see a number of them in the past year. We have delivered a number of growth initiatives that comprised core parts of our master strategy which will surely position us for further growth and success in the future. In the year 2009, we have launched American Express Cards in Bangladesh, opened 5 new branches, 5 SME service centres and 11 SME Business Centres. We have increased our number of ATMs from 24 to 47 – providing our customers with greater access to their money. Furthermore, we have launched Brokerage Business, relocated our head office from Motijheel to Gulshan Avenue and upgraded our Core Banking software from version 6 to version 7. Over the past year, we have also appointed an additional 290 talented staff to our bank mainly to support the newly formed departments.

We are confident about our growth and success, even as challenges persist. First,

we have a talented human capital that is committed to working together to provide our customers with the best solutions and services. Second, we are building on a solid foundation of key strengths, including a strong capital base and excellent risk and expense management skills. Third, because of our diversified business lines, products and locations. Lastly, we have a clear understanding and focus of our strategy – we know where to direct our efforts.

Our objectives for 2010

• Maintain capital base above regulatory requirement (new capital injection)

• Bring down cost to income ratio below 40%

• Maintain NPL ratio below 4%

• Achieve return on equity of above 20%

• Offer long-term shareholder value through increases in dividends and stock price appreciation

• Gain high levels of employee satisfaction and manage recruitment of talented staff from the industry

• Achieve high levels of customer satisfaction and loyalty

• Foster new customer acquisition and retain the existing customers by deepening relationships

• Employ strong practices in corporate governance and further develop compliance processes

• Deliver on corporate social responsibility and ensure strong community involvement.

The ability to deliver the strong perfor-mance we have seen over the past year across the Bank would not have been possible without the goodwill and com-mitment of our people. I am very grateful for the high level of support I have received from across the organization and I continue to be enormously impressed with the quality and skills of our people.

Despite the severity of our current challenges I remain undeterred. I believe that our combination of strong business, market positions, diverse earning power and talented workforce will see us through, and that we will emerge as one of the strongest and best banks in the country.

K Mahmood SattarManaging Director & CEO

The City Bank Limited

City Bank wins The Asian Banker “Strongest Bank in Bangladesh – 2010” Award

City Bank MD & CEO, K Mahmood Sattar wins The Asian Banker “Leadership Achievement Award 2010”

April 18th, 2010 will forever be embedded in the hearts of all of us at City Bank as the day our bank won the prestigious Asian Banker “Strongest Bank in Bangladesh -2010” Award and our CEO won the coveted “Leadership Achievement Award 2010”. The Leadership Award Gala Dinner, the region’s highest award ceremony for leadership in financial services, was a bow-tie event featuring all outstanding leaders from the Asia Pacific and Middle East regions. Among the many dignitaries and luminaries in attendance, many of whom were chairmen and CEOs of banks and also global leaders, there could be seen the presence of individuals as notable as Sir George Mathewson, the former chairman of RBS and Mr. Neel Kashkari, the former under-secretary of finance of the United States government and the head of the TARP program during the Bush administration. Among the many shining stars was our very own MD & CEO

Mr. K Mahmood Sattar. He beamed with pride and satisfaction as he walked up the stairs to receive the awards: one for City Bank, Bangladesh – the winner of this year’s “The QFC-Asian Banker Strongest Bank in Bangladesh” Award; and the other for himself as the recipient of “The QFC-Asian Banker Leadership Achievement Award for Bangladesh”.

City Bank Chairman Mr. Aziz Al Kaiser was present at the event and can be seen holding the “Strongest Bank in Bangladesh” Award in the photograph while Mr. Sattar is seen holding his award for “Leadership Achievement”.

To give a short background, The Asian Banker runs an important research-based Leadership Achievement Awards in the Financial Services Industry once every 3 years. The programme assesses the achievements of leaders in creating strong and sustainable financial institutions in the region. In other words, it is to assess the long term impact of the bank leadership in terms of vision, profitability and sustainability.

The research for this programme for 2010 was supported by the Qatar Financial Centre (QFC). Hence the official name of

the award: “The QFC – Asian Banker Leadership Achievement Award and Strongest Banks in Asia Awards 2010.”

The Asian Banker Leadership Achievement Award is widely acknowledged in the Asia Pacific and Gulf regions today as the highest possible accolade of its kind for the individual and institutional achievements in the banking industry. Established in 2001, it is one of the most difficult and most exclusive awards for any top banker or the bank to win because of its stringent evaluation process.

The award ceremony is held in conjunction with The Asian Banker Summit, undisputedly the largest annual gathering of professionals in the financial services industry in the Asia Pacific region.

City Bank has been making waves for the last 3 years. City Bank has been making history for the last 3 years. City Bank has been leading others in the industry for the last 3 years. And now the world has recognized that. It’s a happy and proud moment for us. We are evermore proud of our brand now. And these awards for our leader and our institution make us even humbler yet more determined and committed than ever.

Now the World RecognizesMashrur ArefinChief Communications Officer

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01. Avoid products with several layers of packaging when only one is sufficient.02. Use cloth napkins instead of paper ones. 03. Use reusable containers to store food instead of aluminum foil and cling wrap. 04. Shop with a canvas bag instead of using paper and plastic bags. 05. Use compact fluorescent light bulbs (energy saving bulbs) to save money and energy.06. Clean or replace air filters on your air conditioning unit at least once a month. 07. Turn off unneeded lights even when leaving a room for a short time. 08. Eliminate mercury from your home by purchasing items without mercury, and dispose of items containing mercury at an

appropriate drop-off facility when necessary (e.g. old thermometers).09. Copy and print on both sides of paper.10. Check and fix any water leaks. 11. Don't wash dishes with the water running continuously. 12. Never dump anything down a storm drain.13. Plant trees.

City Retail is happy to announce that it launched a ‘Neighborhood Campaign’ for the very first time this year. This innovative campaign whose pay-off line is – A Green Planet Makes More Sense, took place in neighboring Gulshan 2, Banani and Baridhara residential areas. The objective of the campaign was to welcome neighboring residents at our recently opened Gulshan Avenue branch (located at City Bank Center), to open accounts and to do banking with us by presenting them with an environment friendly City Bank branded gift (potted plant).

The campaign was formally launched by handing over a plant pot to Mr. Tufail K Haider, former secretary & Ambassador and to Mr. Mohammad Adnan Imam, Managing Director, AWR Developments (BD) Ltd. The campaign, which started on March 01, 2010 continued for 2 months up to April 30, 2010. Twenty-seven Direct Sales Executives - Liability & four relationship managers from the Gulshan Avenue Branch participated in the campaign.

We are extremely happy with the response from this initiative. At the end of the campaign we distributed 3000 plant pots and collected 3500 business leads. We also opened 750 CASA Accounts with Debit Card & City Wallet, 220 AMEX Card applications, 40 Loan applications etc.

We strongly believe, this campaign will create a huge positive impact in the market as well as will lead us to the growth of retail business.

Keepour planet

cleanand green!

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Neighborhood Campaign LaunchShamim Murshed Head of Liabilities – Retail Banking

The IT and Operations Team of City Bank is as energetic and customer focused as the business team of the bank. In our quest of becoming the # 1 bank of choice to the millions of individuals, Corporate and SME’s in Bangladesh; IT and OPS form an integral part of the mission. In order to prove to our customers that OPS and IT are as enthusiastic as our business team about providing quality service on a consistent basis; it was decided to set a mission statement for every department operating under the operations team. The mission statement of Trade Services Division was the first to be developed, followed by Service Delivery. The goal will impact all individuals in operations and will enable our customers to hold the operation team accountable if these guidelines are not being followed in any particular instance!

A journey of stability, growth and challenges!Mahia Juned JamilHead of Operations

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A centralized banking platform has become a matter of survival for banks and not a choice, a fancy, a luxury, or a fad. We have reached a milestone of centralizing all our critical Operations functions into two Operations centre located in Jibon Bima Bhaban in Dhaka and Finlay House in Chittagong. This means that we are processing – 1. All Account Opening and Closing; 2. Fixed Deposit set up & terminations; 3. Centralized Clearing in Dhaka; 4. Issuance of Certificates; 5. Check Book Issuance and related charge realization for Dhaka; 6. Corporate Salary; 7. Standing Instructions; 8. IPO refunds; 9. Sensitive processes of Incoming Remittance and Outgoing Remittances in a centralized fashion. The feedback we received from our Retail Cluster Heads is overwhelming. There was a common consensus that the quality of service from Centralized Operations is good and they have no serious issue to raise or be critical about. I think this is a tremendous achievement and I thank everyone in the Operations Team for their hard work and commitment.

A major achievement has been the generation and dispatch of client statement of accounts. For the very first time in the history of City Bank all Current and Savings Account Holders have been sent statements of their account. This was a major initiative involving IT, Operations Support and Logistics and all concerned deserve special praise in bring into a closure. From now onwards, clients will receive a statement of their current and savings accounts at the end of June and December every year.

On the IT end, we faced a bit of challenging time with slow response time with the Finacle system. Since there is more than one external vendor involved, the solution to the problem took a bit more time to resolve. The Report Server is now more robust and Training on Finacle 7 has been completed. From now on, training will be provided to new comers and re-fresher courses will be available when ever new product process is being launched.

The ultimate goal for Operations is to develop itself as the Service Provider of choice to the business units of City Bank. Ultimately, our goal is to demonstrate to everyone that the staff in IT and Operations is as customer conscious as the business people of this bank. I believe that the IT and OPS team in City has the wherewithal to keep on rolling full steam ahead in our quest of achieving the goal of ensuring quality service on a consistent basis! After all, we want to be the “partner of choice” to all our internal and external customers.

Corporate Hospital Benefits for City Bank Ltd.

Great News! City Bank management has signed an agreement with the 3 best hospitals of the country:

• Apollo Hospitals Dhaka

• United Hospital Ltd.

• Square Hospital Ltd.

Under this corporate agreement we will have the following facilities:

Apollo Hospitals Dhaka

• 5% discount on hospital standard tariff (in-patient medical services) (excepting consumables/pharmacy/room service).

United Hospital Ltd.

• 20% discount on all pathological tests.

• 10% on all diagnostic tests carried out in Radiology & Imaging department & other diagnostic

services like ECG, ECHO, ETT, Endoscopy, Colonoscopy and

• 5% on cabin rates in case of admission as in-patient.

Square Hospital Ltd.

• 10% discount on hospital standard tariff (excluding Medicine, Hospital supplies,

MRI, CT scan & Special treatment packages/offers).

Eligible person: City Bank employees and their dependants

(Spouse, children, father, mother).

Registration Process: All 3 hospitals will provide us corporate membership

card upon registration upon CITY-HR’s recommendation.

Wish you all sound health and hope that none of us will have to avail these facilities.

American Express Bangladesh Open 2010 Professional Golf ChampionshipThe American Express Bangladesh Open 2010 witnessed professional and amateur golfers from Dhaka tee-off alongside some of the top players of the Professional Golf Tour India (PGTI) from 24th January to 27th January 2010.

City Bank, sponsored the tournament, which was held in Kurmitola Golf Club, Dhaka, in association with the Bangladesh Golf Federation. The championship carried a total prize of TK 30 lacs and marked PGTI’s return to Bangladesh. 120 golfers from home and abroad took part in this event.

The Professional Championship began on 25th January and took place over three days, ending with the prize-giving ceremony on the 29th January. The trophy and prize money were handed over to the eventual winner– Mohammad Siddikur, who ensured the trophy remain in Bangladesh. Siddikur, who holds 18th position in the PGTI rankings, raced to a commanding six stroke lead after posting a seven-under-65 in the third round. Australian Kunal Bhasin, Bahgladeshi Mohd. Dulal Hossain and India’s Sanjay Kumar finished joint second with seven-under-209. Through this event, American Express reached out to their card members who are also avid sports fans.

American Express at the “Regency Bangla Food Festival”City Bank & American Express sponsored the “Regency Bangla Food Festival” held at Dhaka Regency between February 6-12, 2010 at its Grandiose Restaurant on Level 6 from 6:30 pm – 11:00 pm. The setup not only exhibited sumptuous banquets of deshi dishes from appetizers to desserts, including live stations of fuchka & chotpoti, jhal chanachur & muri, and pittha & puli, but also Bangla musical performances by celebrity artists such as Fahmida Nobi & Lalan, and appearances and literary discussions by famous personalities such Imdadul Huq Milon & Shohidujjaman Selim. It was one of the best tributes to Bangladeshi culture arranged by City Bank and American Express along with Dhaka Regency, and one that will be remembered by its guests and patrons for a long time to come.

American Express at the US Trade show 2010City Bank American Express participated in the 19th annual US Trade Show

2010 from the 18th – 20th of February 2010 at the Winter Garden at the Dhaka

Sheraton Hotel. The stall gave a virtual journey of City Bank, especially

highlighting its US-based products American Express® Credit Cards,

MoneyGram®, Visa Debit and Credit Cards. This information is key to those who

are interested in getting the American Express card for the first time.

City Bank takes American Express to New Heights!Nazmul Karim ChoudhuryHead of Brand

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American Express & The Evolution of the Sari-Heritage RetoldOn 1st of April 2010, City Bank & American Express showcased a fashion exhibition entitled “The Evolution of Saris in the Subcontinent over 100 years”, to laud the sari as indeed a unique symbol of our region’s culture and heritage. Tootly Rahman, a Bangladeshi fashion designer specializing in fusion hand painted designs, hand embroidery, cutwork, appliqué, tapestry etc, has been creating fashions over the last three decades. Tootly Rahman and her fashion label “By Deshi” took the audience on a captivating journey through phases of the history of the sari over the last two centuries. The event turned out to be a huge treat especially for fashion-conscious American Express Cardmembers, and at the same time provided City Bank & American Express another platform to leverage its focus towards enriching lifestyle through our own culture.

“Borshoboron Shondhya”-American Express Greets the Bangla New year with AplombTo commemorate the beginning of the Bangla New year 1417, City Bank & American Express sponsored ‘Borshoboron Sondhya’ at the Grand Ballroom, Dhaka Radisson, on the 15th of April 2010. The grand musical event, broadcast live on Desh TV, comprised of performances by some of the top names in the music industry –Subir Nondi, Shakila Zafar, Aditi Mohsin and Krishnokoli. Notable personalities and dignitaries were present to further grace the festivities, with the chief guest, Finance Minister Mr. Abdul Muhit kindly obliging to attend.

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City Bank & American Express showcases “Valmiki Pratibha”– The Genius of Valmiki at Shilpakala AcademyCity Bank & American Express proudly presented the theatre production of “Valmiki Pratibha – The Genius of Valmiki” on 12th March 2010, in association with cultural organizations Shurolok and Nrityanchal at the National Theatre Hall, Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy. The musical drama, the first ever written by Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore in 1881, describes the transformation of the bandit leader Ratnakar into the saint Valmiki, the first mythological poet to compose the epic “Ramayana”. Unique in its operatic presentation, this adaptation featured eminent dancers, singers, directors and choreographers from home and abroad, helping to make it a true spectacle. Shibli Muhammad, in the lead role of Valmiki, delivered a flawless performance, as did Shamimara Nipa in her role as the goddess Saraswati.

Chanchal Khan, President of Shurolok, who conceptualized the production said, “it is not simply a European form of opera, but more a play set to music. It took us seven months of immense patience and tests of skill to finally bring the production to stage.” Khan was also the music director of the play and lent his voice to the role of Valmiki. On behalf of the sponsors, Chairman of City Bank Mr. Aziz Al Kaiser expressed his opinion that such collaborations not only serve the cultural and artistic tastes of their American Express Cardmembers, the metamorphosis of Valmiki rather symbolizes the internal and external changes City Bank itself has gone through in the last two and a half years, particularly the sole acquisition and issuance of American Express Credit Cards in Bangladesh.

American Express at French DramaFestival 2010

Alliance Francaise de Dhaka and two local cultural associations (Natukay Theater Group and School of Fame Dance, Drama and Music) with support of French Embassy in Dhaka proudly organized the 3rd International French Drama Festival from 15th - 21st May, 2010 at Shilpokola Academy. The festival included classic and contemporary plays from the most famous French playwrights. City Bank - American Express was the title sponsor.

The International French Drama Festival is one of the most popular theater events in Bangladesh. The success of the two previous festivals organized in 2008 & 2009 has encouraged Alliance Francaise to hold this festival for the third time. The spectators of the drama were able to attend seven classic French plays, translated in Bengali. A huge media coverage was received as Channel I has always been the media partner. Like before, Channel I covered both the opening and closing ceremonies of the event.

International Conference on KnowledgeGlobalization

City Bank and American Express sponsored the International Conference on Knowledge Globalization that was jointly organized by the department of Career & Professional Services of North South University, Dhaka, Bangladesh and Knowledge Globalization Institute, Suffolk University, Boston, USA from 5th May, 2010. The conference aimed to bring together scholars, academicians, researchers, faculty and students from all over the world to exchange ideas on various issues in globalization. The conference was a 3-day long program which focused on “Empowerment through knowledge transfer and progress through knowledge sharing”.

Nobel laureate Dr. Yunus was the keynote speaker and he spoke on “Creating a world without poverty and social business”. In addition to that, there were over 50 international speakers from various countries including researchers and academics, representatives from business, industry, government bodies and non-government agencies.

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The National Career Fair 2010 began on a sunlit, spring morning, bearing promises of new beginnings and greener pastures for thousands of career hopefuls nationwide. City Bank was a proud participant of the two day event, organized by North South University at their campus on the 19th and 20th of March 2010.

The day began with participating companies making last minute adjustments to their stalls and ensuring everything was perfect for the upcoming event. As the day progressed, more and more people made their way to the fair and to our stall. Halfway through the day we were completely swamped with visitors! Not a single moment passed without people asking us about current vacancies and application procedures. It felt good to see so many people, full of hope and vigor, eager to be a part of City Bank.

Any story on the career fair would be incomplete without a description of our stall –it truly was a sight to behold! Arguably the best one at the event, our stall had a unique, minimalist design concept that made it stand out from all the others. For those of you who weren’t there, pictures just do not do it justice. Decked out in bold reds and whites, with our values adorning the walls and a large flat screen showing off our achievements, we were undeniably a cut above the rest.

Incredible as it was, we still had to take turns leaving our stall every now and then in order to attend various important events throughout the day. The first day of the fair had many attractions including the inauguration ceremony and a number of seminars on different topics. Our Head of Human Resources gave a very insightful presentation at one such seminar aimed at providing job seekers with pertinent information regarding career planning. Commerce Minister Muhammad Faruk Khan inaugurated the fair as the chief guest while NSU Foundation Chairman MA Kashem was present as special guest.

Career Fairs such as this help create invaluable employer branding opportunities for organizations such as ours and provide an ideal platform for attracting young talent. The NSU career fair was indeed a great opportunity for our bank to showcase itself among career seekers today. We at City HR had a great time participating and look forward to many more Career Fairs to come.

City Bank at NSU National Career Fair 2010Shahnila R. Ahmed Officer, HR

Partnering up with Square & United HospitalsCity Bank & American Express recently partnered up with Square Hospital, meaning Cardmembers can now avail up to 7% savings on health checkups and other facilities from the hospital. Through another memorandum of understanding signed by City Bank and American Express with United Hospital, Cardmembers can now benefit from 20% savings on pathological tests, 10% savings on radiological tests and 5% savings on room accommodations at United Hospital. Both offers can be availed by American Express Credit Cardmembers and American Express Gold Credit Cardmem-bers, as well as their family members (dependants, spouse, children and parents). The offer also includes 10% savings on the hospitals preventive health screening packages.

Service Campaign 2010Md. Mustafizur RahmanHead of Service Quality

It was a bright day, brighter than any other sunny day. The sky was more blue than ever and everything around was just unbelievably vibrant. So what was the difference?

Everyone at 136 Gulshan Avenue was dressed in branded t-shirts and wrist bands. The internal premise was colorfully decorated with balloons, wobblers and stickers. Adding to these hues, there was the excitement in everyone’s eyes and the enthusiasm evident in their body language. It was the launch day of ‘Service Campaign 2010’, a day City Bank will remember for a long time.

The campaign was launched by Mr. Sohail R. K. Hussain, the Acting Managing Director by cutting a cake. ‘Even the cake was one of a kind’, said our Acting Managing Director. Service Quality’s dazzling efforts were visible at every corner not only in Gulshan Avenue branch and Head Office but also at all metropolitan branches, Card Centre, SME centers and trade services across the country.

The new refreshing get-up made all branch personnel look smarter and younger compared to their usual appearance in formal shirt and tie. Everyone felt rejuvenated by coming out of their monotonous office attire and dressing up in t-shirts announcing ‘Spirit to Serve’. To add more fire to it, a competition for best service personnel and best smiling personnel was kicked off among branch employees. This created a very positive and competitive environment at the work places. Service Quality did a lot of branch inspection in their effort to nominate the best employees for the competition. SQ team members visited 39 branches and the card centre and also conducted motivational sessions for branch teams in more than 20+ major branches. This creative campaign also received good press coverage on The Daily Star newspaper.

The campaign continued for a fortnight but the buzz created is still echoing in the Bank. The level of acceptance of this campaign was unbelievable. Everyone is a lot more aware about service now and this is best realized when customers themselves inform us about it. Though the campaign is over but the mantra of good service is effectively injected in the branch people’s veins. That is where the success of Service Campaign 2010 lies.

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Retail Conference 2010 Md. Mustafizur RahmanHead of Service Quality

“Get, Keep, Grow” was the theme for this year’s Retail Banking Conference, one of the biggest events that this bank hold yearly. This was the 4th such conference since the inception of “Retail Banking” in this bank; and, according to the participant’s endorsements and Mancom members’ feedback, by far the best.

Retail Bank, at this event held at Westin Hotel and attended by some 130 Retail Bank staff including all 87 BSSMs, tried to bring home the new motto for Retail Bank staff: Get new business, Keep or retain the business that has been brought in, and Grow in a judicious manner. The other pay-off line of Retail Bank was also discussed at the conference, which is, “Add a Little City To Your Life”.

The whole event took a colorful turn when the Chairman of the bank Mr. Aziz Al Kaiser arrived and stayed till the time the prize giving ceremony for American Express Cards Launch project members ended with thundering applause. 39 sparkling heroes involved in Amex Cards launch project were rewarded by the Chairman in 4 categories.

The tone of the day was set by the powerful opening speech from Mr. K Mahmood Sattar, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Sattar presented a very interesting yet simple slide show showing how to achieve good business by providing good service. He presented his thought in a very humorous way, yet it contained all the strong messages that needed to be passed on to the audience. After Managing Director’s speech, the day rolled on with interesting and inspiring presentations and speeches from the Deputy Managing Directors and members from RLT (Retail Leadership Team).

Another eye catching segment was the publication of the results of Mystery Shopping Survey 2009. Everyone, especially the BSSMs, had been eagerly waiting for this result since the beginning of the year. The suspense ended and results were declared by Mr. Mustafizur Rahman, Head of Service Quality. DSE Nikunja, Imamganj and New Market branches established themselves as the top 3 branches in terms of service excellence. This survey result showed significant improvement in service standards compared to the result of the last survey.

Overall, Retail Conference 2010 was brilliant. It had all the fire needed to celebrate the success of 2009 and the confidence to achieve the targets of 2010.

CityBizness – Committed to ContributeSanjib Kumar DeyHead of Small Segment, SME

CityBizness (the SME Banking of CityBank) has gradually positioned itself into the SME industry of the country. Since its inception, it focused on business portfolio management, more specifically in account retentions. Over the past months, we – at City Bank – have stepped forward to expand our lending spectrum throughout the country. By forming different wings like Women Cell, Agricultural Unit, Collection Unit and RM, we have significantly placed ourselves in major locations, which was one of our top priorities. In addition to this, we also focused on accelerating the balance sheet and maintaining ‘good book-keeping’ practices.

In the years 2008 and 2009, we emphasized on perfection collateral and security documentation, an issue which required attention for a long time. Strengthening the quality of our employees, enhancing the skills of RMs on CM preparation and new product launching, initiating the S segment business in full swing were our major challenges during this tenure. We, with modesty, have managed to attain these objectives in a successful manner and this is clearly visible by our presence with the customers. Developing a solid base of about 4200 borrower-customers and building a loan book size of BDT 8,000 million is the evidence of our journey toward making business progress and a prominent presence in the industry.

City Bank always wanted to have more transparency of the division so that stake holders are fully aware of the activities we do. E3 solution and I-station communications jointly organized an agricultural fair at the BICC from to 5th to 7th October 2010, where City Bank was the proud official Banker. The Banglalink Agro Bangladesh Fair 2010 was a venture to raise awareness in people about the agricultural prospects of this country. Dilip Barua, honorable Minister of Industry, inaugurated the opening ceremony of the fair on October 05, 2010.

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Sohail R.K. Hussain, DMD Business – City Bank and other distinguished guests like the Additional Secretary of Agriculture Ministry, Personal Secretary to the PM and CEO of Banglalink etc were also present at the inaugural ceremony.

City Bank installed a beautiful pavilion at BICC, where all our agricultural products were showcased. Our pavilion attracted the attention of many visitors including the Honorable Industry Minister. He appreciated our efforts in creating loan products like City Khamar, City Shosho, City Jontrapati and City Live stock. He further added that these schemes will help people to expand and flourish in their agricultural business. These 4 products are offered to the true marginal farmers of different rural areas based throughout Bangladesh. On the closing day of the fair, Citybizness was awarded the ‘Best Creative Pavilion’ of the fair. B. Choudhury, Head of SME Banking division accepted this prestigious award. Fisheries and Live Stock Minister Abdul Matin Bishas, the chief guest of the closing ceremony, handed the award to B. Choudhury. The award is the 1st in nature as recognition of our efforts and contributions toward the Agricultural sector. We are committed to continue marking our presence in different sectors of the Industry.

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Risk Management Initiatives at CBL

Introduction of SMA convention at City BankFor the first time in the history of City Bank, the SMA convention took place on June 16, 2010. The prime objective of this campaign was to

make an all out effort with the stakeholders in order to reduce the past due (PD) portfolio to a significant level. This can be achieved through

continuous monitoring and establishing accountability of all responsible and concerned groups. Representatives from the MANCOM,

Business (both corporate and SME), CRM, CAD, RMD, SAMD and Legal divisions participated in the meeting.

Organized by RMD just before the half-year ending, SMA outstanding amount was Tk 74.22 crore (1.59% of the total portfolio) as on March

31, 2010 and Tk. 132.85 crore (2.79% of the total portfolio) as on May 31, 2010. After the launch of the campaign, the SMA outstanding

amount was reduced to Tk. 70.02 crore (only 1.32% of the total portfolio) as on June 30, 2010. Classified portfolio was also reduced to

4.13% as on June 2010. It is worth mentioning here that this is a great achievement when compared to the 5.75% as on March 2010.

The campaign is one of the ‘milestones’ for the Bank and this initiative was applauded by bank officials for its driving result in reducing the

PD. The second convention was held within two months of the first one on 19 August 2010. The convention ended with a resolution from

the management that the CL ratio should be brought down to 3.5% by September 2010 and 3% by December 2010. The third convention,

organized by SAMD with the assistance of RMD, was held on 26 September 2010, just prior to September 2010 quarter end with the spirit

to continue the effort to make everyone alert of the goal at the year end. This new initiative has instilled within us a sense of hope and

optimism and we truly believe we can achieve our year end target of bringing down the PD portfolio.

NPL Ratio below 5% in June 2010NPL Ratio below 3% within December 2010SMA within 1% of the total loans & advances

SMA transition to classification must be arrested in June and onwards

SMA & NPLReductionCampaign Endedwith Promises:

Md. Ashanur RahmanOperational Head, Risk Management Department (RMD)

Lighten up your Day!

A young executive was leaving the office one evening when he found the CEO stand-ing in front of a shredder with a piece of paper in his hand.

"Listen", said the CEO, "this is important and my assistant has left. Can you make this thing work?"

"Certainly", said the young man, flattered that the CEO had asked him for help.

He turned the machine on, inserted the paper and pressed the start button.

"Excellent! Excellent!" said the CEO as his paper disappeared inside the machine. "I need two copies of that."

When NASA first started sending up astronauts, they quickly discovered that ballpoint pens would not work in zero gravity. To combat the problem, NASA scientists spent a decade and $12 billion to develop a pen that writes in zero gravity, upside down, underwater, on almost any surface including glass and at temperatures ranging from below freezing to 300°C.

The Russians used a pencil.

A woman gets on a bus with her baby. The bus driver says: “That's the ugliest baby that I've ever seen. Ugh!”

The woman goes to the rear of the bus and sits down, fuming. She says to a man next to her: “The driver just insulted me!”

The man says: “You go right up there and tell him off – go ahead, I'll hold your monkey for you.”

Two hunters are out in the woods when one of them falls to the ground. He doesn't seem to be breathing, his eyes are rolled back in his head. The other guy whips out his cell phone and calls the emergency services. He gasps to the operator: “My friend is dead! What can I do?”

The operator, in a calm soothing voice says: “Just take it easy. I can help. First, let's make sure he's dead.” There is a silence, then a shot is heard.

The guy's voice comes back on the line. He says: “OK, now what?“

A couple of dog owners are arguing about whose pet is smarter.

"My dog is so smart," says the first owner, "that every morning he waits for the paper-boy to come around. He tips the kid and then brings the newspaper to me, along with my morning coffee."

"I know," says the second owner.

"How do you know?"

"My dog told me."

“My biggest motivation? Just to keep challenging myself. I see life almost like one long University education that I never had - every day I'm learning something new.” Richard Branson

“A good head and a good heart are always a formidable combination.” Nelson Mandela

“No pessimist ever discovered the secret of the stars or sailed an uncharted land, or opened a new doorway for the human spirit.” Hellen Keller

“I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.” Albert Einstein

“Sometimes I think we're alone in the universe, and sometimes I think we're not. Either way, the idea is quite staggering.” Aurthur C. Clarke

“Interestingly, according to modern astronomers, space is finite. This is a very comforting thought - particularly for people who cannot remember where they left things.” Woody Allen

Did You Know?

The first recognizable banks developed in medieval Italy - the term ‘bank’ deriving from the merchant’s market place bench which in Italian was called a ‘banco’.

Sudoku is easy to play and the rules are simple. Fill in the blanks so that each row, each column, and each of the nine 3x3 grids contain one instance of each of the numbers 1 through 9.

Words of Wisdom

Sudoku

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Back Pain Blues Many of us spend long hours, day after day, sitting at a desk staring at our PC monitor whilst at work. Yet, how many of us sit in the correct position? By sitting in a static posture there is an increase in the stress put upon your back and neck, which can put a lot of pressure on the muscles and discs.

To help you combat back problems or to prevent them from occurring follow our top tips below -

• Adjust your office chair so that when you let your upper arms rest parallel to your spine, your forearms are resting at a 90 degree angle to your upper arms. If necessary move your chair up or down so that you can achieve this position with your arms.

• Use the armrests on your office chair. They should be adjusted so that they lift your arms slightly at the shoulders which will reduce the strain on your neck and shoulders.

• Your backside should be pressed against the rear of the chair and there should be a cushion that causes your lower back to arch slightly forward so as to avoid slouching forward. Avoid slouching in a chair, as this will put stress on your lower back.

• Your eyes should gaze at the centre of your monitor. If not then adjust the VDU or chair appropriately.

• Take regular breaks from your desk. Move around and stretch. There are exercises that you can do to keep yourself mobile and to help alleviate tension that can build up during a working day.

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'Superfoods' Everyone NeedsImagine a superfood -- not a drug -- powerful enough to help you lower your cholesterol, reduce your risk of heart disease and cancer, and, for an added bonus, put you in a better mood. Did we mention that there are no side effects? You'd surely stock up on a lifetime supply. Guess what? These life-altering superfoods are available right now in your local supermarket.

You don't need specific foods for specific ailments. A healthy diet incorporating a variety of the following superfoods will help you maintain your weight, fight disease, and live longer. One thing they all have in common: Every superfood is a real unprocessed food.

Top Superfoods Offering Super Health Protection Include:

• Beans: Reduce obesity

• Broccoli: Lowers the incidence of cataracts

and fights birth defects

• Spinach: Decreases the chance of cardiovascular

disease and age-related macular degeneration

• Oats: Reduce the risk of type II diabetes

• Oranges: Prevent strokes

• Pumpkin: Lowers the risk of various cancers

• Wild salmon: Lowers the risk of heart disease

• Soy: Lowers cholesterol

• Tea (Green/Black): Helps prevent osteoporosis

• Tomatoes: Raise the skin's sun protection factor

• Walnuts: Reduce the risk of developing coronary

heart disease, diabetes, and cancer

• Blueberries: Lower risk for cardiovascular disease

Healthy Living 20 Very Good Reasons to Cut Back on Sugar The following is a listing of some of sugar's consequences from medical journals and other scientific publications:• Sugar can suppress the immune system and contribute to a weakened defense against all kinds of infection • Sugar can cause hyperactivity, anxiety, concentration difficulties, and crankiness in children • Sugar may lead to cancer of the breast, ovaries, prostate, and colon • Sugar can weaken eyesight• Sugar can cause appendicitis• Sugar can increase the risk of coronary heart disease• Sugar can speed the aging process, causing wrinkles and grey hair • Sugar can cause liver cells to divide, increasing the size of the liver• Sugar can increase kidney size and produce pathological changes in the kidney • Sugar can cause arthritis • Sugar can lead to the formation of kidney stones• Sugar can cause headaches, including migraines • Sugar can contribute to diabetes• Sugar can decrease growth hormone • Sugar can increase total cholesterol • Sugar can increase blood pressure• Sugar can impair the structure of DNA • Sugar can cause cataracts • Sugar can cause free radical formation in the bloodstream • Sugar increases the risk of Alzheimer Disease

Globally banks have had tremendous success in shifting day-to-day banking services from walk-in branches to lower cost channels (online or call center). Retail banks that implement and optimize an enhanced call center experience as a key component of a service differentiation approach can enjoy very competitive advantage in below areas, where business may face difficulties.

Following are three key challenges faced by the retail business today:

1. Profit Margins: Beginning of late 1990s, the non-banking Financial Institutes began offering more or less traditional banking products, leading to greater price competition with the retail banks.

2. Cross-Selling Efforts: Profitable client segments have decreased their visits to branches, meaning there are less in-person cross-sell and up-sell opportunities with these customers.

3. Agents Productivity: Banks are challenged to offer available agent expertise, as needed. As a result, both the agents and customers become frustrated when they can’t do their jobs and the customers can’t get proper support.

Strategies to overcome such challenges and boost retail business:

1. Generating Revenue - Each customer interaction, regardless of channel, must be

explored as a sales opportunity and acted on accordingly through cross-selling and up-selling in both incoming and outgoing calls.

2. Customer Experience - People evaluate their business relationship every time they contact a company; therefore, making this experience as enjoyable as possible is essential to customer acquisition and retention.

Multi-Channel Interactions - The first step is to offer an exceptional customer experience via multi-channel interactions comprised of branches, ATMs, phone, fax, e-mail, SMS and web chat so that customers can conduct business exactly when and how they like.

Inbound Marketing to reach Customers outside the Branch - As customers increasingly conduct business outside the branch, contextual inbound marketing techniques based on a 360 degree view of the customer can be used to make personalized retention and cross-sell offers when customers make a call to Call Center.

Pre - engagement Program - Initiate promotional/welcome calls on different services (i.e. opening on an account, received a credit card/loan, congratulate on any success or any big occasions of any client).

Self-Service Integration with Agent Assistance – It allows the customer to interact with the bank in a convenient way

while still receiving the same personalized advisory service available in branches. As customers may engage in online services, they can be offered agent assistance to make their interaction go more smoothly.

Initiate Proactive Contact - Proactively notify the customers based on predetermined preferences (such as email, phone, SMS and so on). These notifications would augment banking service by helping customers respond to certain conditions before they happen, so the customer has the option to maximize an opportunity or minimize a negative impact to their financial well being.

Use of Customer Data and Segmentation - In this new paradigm, Call Center reaches out to the customers with product configurations, product bundles and prices designed specifically to attract and meet the needs of individual customer.

Establish Demographic Profiling – Through Call Center the Retail banks are armed with a wealth of demographic details that they can leverage for cross-sell and up-sell opportunities, and they’ve long used their knowledge about customers to implement targeted marketing campaigns.

These are the major strategies that call centers can pursue particularly in retail business!

Call CenterStrategies In Retail BusinessMd. Mustafizur RahmanHead of Call Center

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The eastern sky was glistening in gold, beneath its reflection on the blue. Touching the surface was the blistering hot sand, giving a scorching vibe, yet not as painful as it seems. My mind was filled with peace, my body relaxed. The tension, the workload, the everyday pressure… all of it seemed very distant. I felt physically detached from the noisy, polluted sights and sounds of Dhaka city. And I felt comfort, I felt… happy.

We were going to Saint Martin. Together, the 40 of us from The City Bank Finance & GA Team started our journey towards destination Saint Martin on the night of 18th February. We felt inseparable, as if we were on a quest, ready to explore our long awaited desires. Travelling at night on highways in Bangladesh is sometimes a worry. Roads have potholes, and they are narrow. So as expected, the driver drove really slowly. Finally, we reached Teknaf at 5.30 pm the next day. But because we were late, we missed the ship for Saint Martin. All of us were slightly dejected, but soon our sadness perished. We decided to board two trawlers and head for our setting. Boy, the trawlers were rocking! For some of them it was quite a new experience. The high tides really gave us some shake, but the team spirit finally drove us to our destination.

Wow! Saint Martin was the place to be. Lying in the Bay of Bengal, it attracts thousands of local and foreign visitors every day. Thanks to its panoramic beauty and pristine marine life. About 14 km off Bangladesh's southernmost town of Teknaf, the island's beaches are fringed with coconut palms. Paradise on earth would probably be the right term for this exotic place. The tiny island is locally known as Narikel Jinjira (Coconut Island). The northern part of the island is the most populated area and all the hotels, motels and restaurants are there in the northern part. We took four motels for us to stay. Since all of us were really tired, we decided to have dinner and tuck in shortly. We had fresh rupchanda fry and parata for dinner… it was brilliant!

The next day, we woke up early to make up for our lost time, and went out to see the sights of this wonderful place. We thoroughly enjoyed beach football, sea diving. The picturesque view around us was more stunning than a picture itself. A coral island with crystal clear sea water and with a spellbinding beauty in moonlit night, Saint Martin looked like a fairy tale rest. Black dead corals are all around the island on the beach. When the water level goes down then the corals come out and show, its beauty. The coconut trees of this island made it more beautiful.

At night fall, we planned to have a barbecue dinner. We set up tents, made it look like a camp. And we had the most amazing barbecue night together. We talked, gossiped, danced and shared our innermost stories to give everyone the kind of amusement we wanted. It was as if all the doubts, worries, hesitations that we face every single day of our lives, were gone. Each and every single person enjoyed the fullest possible way they could. It was really a memorable moment that the people present can ever forget.

We returned to Dhaka, staying there for 3 days… 3 glorious days. Personally I had the most heartwarming vacation of all times. After we came back to our office life, I felt everyone who went to that trip, was more motivated than ever. This trip not only helped everyone relax, but also inspired us to become more professional, coordinated and supportive in our respected fields. Here we must not forget the contribution from Asif of Finance who arranged almost everything to give us a wonderful outing but could not travel with us at the last moment as he lost his uncle. We really missed you Asif. I feel that we should have more trips like this in the future. Because life, as we know it, is simple. And although we live it in the most compli-cated of ways, we shouldn’t become part of this complicacy.

City Bank Finance & GA Team BuildingAshfaqul HoqueAssociate Manager, Finance & GA

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Participants from all the syndication member banks lead by City Bank Structured Finance Team paid a visit to the project site of Paragon Ceramics Industries Limited (PCIL), where City Bank acted as the Lead Arranger and Agent. Project Sponsors and senior officials of the project were also present at the project site to welcome the visiting guests. Syndicated lenders expressed their satisfaction at the progress of the implementation of the Project.

City Bank Structured Finance Team has achieved another milestone by arranging BDT 520.00 million syndicated credit facility for Paragon Ceramic Industries Limited (“PCIL”). With a total project cost of 813.83 million, this project envisages to be a 100% export-oriented one with an installed capacity of 10.50 million pieces of per annum. City Bank acted as the lead arranger of the project with the participation from Bangladesh Commerce Bank Ltd., Eastern Bank Ltd., IPDC of Bangladesh Ltd., Mercantile Bank Ltd., The Premier Bank Ltd. and State Bank of India. City Bank will also act as the Agent and Account Bank of the transaction.

The implementation of the project is going on full swing and the plant is expected to go into commercial operation within September 2010. The project will produce 3 different types of product varieties - Universal, Pearl and Alumax. The products of PCIL will be completely lead, cadmium and barium free, making it to be the safest and most environment friendly porcelain product in the country. The project will also have an in-house packaging plant, Quality Control and Variety Management system with state-of-the-art technology and machineries.

In a brief discussion session about the project implementation, project sponsors thanked City Bank along with other participating lenders for their participation in the project. They reiterated their commitment to ensure quality and service for continuous growth of the project. In an interactive session, various aspects of the project were discussed. All participating banks appreciated City Bank’s proactive effort in following up the implementation of the project.

City Bank leads the way for export-orientedporcelain manufacturing projectSajjad Hossain ChowdhuryAssociate Manager, Structured Finance

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In February 2010, City Bank arranged BDT 3,000 million syndicated credit facilities which include term loan of BDT 2,240 million and working capital of BDT 760 million for Super Petrochemical (Pvt) Ltd. (“SPPL”), the first private sector venture in petrochemical industry. The signing ceremony was held in a city hotel. Honorable Governor of Bangladesh Bank, Dr. Atiur Rahman, graced the occasion as Chief Guest. K Mahmood Sattar, Managing Director & CEO of City Bank, Mr. Salim Ahmed, Managing Director of SPPL and MD & CEOs from the participating lenders were also present in the occasion to ink the deal.

SPPL is sponsored by Mr. Salim Ahmed, Vice-Chairman of AB Bank Ltd. and one of the renowned industrialists of the country. His other successful business ventures include Super Refinery Ltd. (manufacturer of raw material for paint industires), Elite Chemical Industries Ltd. (manufacturer of Elite Paint) etc.

The venture sets to process naphtha, one of the by-products of Eastern Refinery Ltd., as main raw material and will turn it into petro-chemical products like Aromatics (Xylene), High Octane Gasoline, LPG and various kinds of Solvents. This is going to be the first petro-chemical project of the country under private ownership. The finished products of the project will act as import substitute and will save significant amount of foreign currency. The project shall be located at Dangarchar, Chittagong and will have state-of-the-art technology of Chemex LLC, USA to cover operational and safety management issues. The project is expected to start commercial operation in 4th quarter of 2011.

City Bank acted as joint mandated lead arranger of this project along with Alliance Financial Services Limited, a merchant bank. Agrani Bank, Mutual Trust Bank, National Bank and Pubali Bank acted as Co-Arrangers. Other participants of the syndication are Bangladesh Commerce Bank, Bank Asia, Eastern Bank, IFIC Bank, IPDC, ONE Bank, Social Islami Bank, State Bank of India and United Commercial Bank. City Bank will also act as the Agent and Account Bank of the transaction.

This transaction is a landmark to City Bank’s growing footprint in the structured finance market. In 2010, the bank is targeting to bring more and more large and innovative transactions in the market and has set its target to become one of the leading players in this industry.

City Bank arranges BDT 3,000 million credit facilities for the first private sector petro-chemical projectMohammed Javed ImranSenior Manager, Structured Finance

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We at City HR take great pleasure in announcing the recent re-launch of our much awaited Management Trainee Program. Thanks to the unvarying support from our Board and Management Committee Members, the program is now all set to take centre stage in our employee development efforts aimed towards making City Bank the strongest bank in the industry. The City Bank MT program is a comprehensive career development program geared towards highly motivated individuals who have the potential to excel as future leaders of City Bank. The program was given a soft launch at the NSU career fair in March 2010, and has undergo an elaborate official launching at the end of April.

The City Bank Management Trainee Program is designed based on our core employment philosophy: attract, engage and retain. This will be key to equipping our young talents to succeed in today’s

increasingly competitive business environment and in ensuring that we attain world class leadership in the industry. Our Management Trainee Program is a one year development program that forms the first crucial steps on a structured, long term career path.

A deserving MT will be working on relevant and real tasks from the start, directly contributing to the Banking business and taking an increased level of responsibility as he/she progresses. Regardless of the place in the City Bank – through this program, we aim to ensure that they are equipped with the knowledge and skills to meet our extremely challenging and demanding standards of excellence. These MTs will experience themselves in a variety of operational settings through departmental & branch rotation and comprehensive functional & leadership coaching and mentoring, which will allow them to acquire the skills and knowledge

necessary to become future leaders of City Bank.

A City Bank Management Trainee will be

part of a dynamic, growing organization

with outstanding career development

opportunities. Our aim is to ensure that,

most key positions are filled with our own

home grown talents. We will ensure a

strong commitment to the MTs progress

and to help them reach their full potential

by providing them with a wide range of

opportunities through a complete learning

organization.

The MT program has been launched

officially in May through a number of

advertisements in popular newspapers and

internet job portals of the country. We hope

to onboard our first batch of MTs under this

program by December 2010 if all goes

according to plan. Here’s wishing our MT

program a huge success!

City Bank Management Trainee ProgramMd. Tanvir AhmedAssistant Manager, HR

City Brokerage, The City Bank’s brokerage wing, has enjoyed immense success since its inception in 2009. As testimony to that, recently it inaugurated three new operation centers, with the aim to expand its customer reach and provide better, faster and more convenient services to the clients of the stock market. The new three operation centers were inaugurated at the city's Gulshan, Dhanmondi and Nikunja areas, reflecting the company's objective to provide its clients not only service in trading but also research based information for a secure business venture. With the three new in line, the City Brokerage now has four such operation centers including the first one established in August 2009 at Motijheel.

The three new operation centers were formally inaugurated at Gulshan centre in presence of president of Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) Md. Shakil Rizvi as chief guest. City Bank's Chairman Aziz Al Kaiser was also present on the occasion as special guest. Speaking on the occasion DSE president said the opening of three new brokerage operations at the capital city will play a vital role to augment the investment activities of the national economy. "We see institutional trading increasing while individual trading declines," he said adding that DSE welcomes this change as it is likely to help the market to be more stable. Trading through institution is more factual and research-based instead of rumor driven. This should enhance investment security, he added.

The bank's chairman Aziz Al Kaiser said "City Bank firmly believes that investment is extremely important for ensuring our future growth and prosperity and distributing the national and corporate earnings to the general people. He also said as a leading bank, City has commitments to the investors, in particular and to the society in general. Therefore, we have taken the initiative to provide brokerage services to the general investors."

City Bank's Managing Director & CEO K Mahmood Sattar in his welcome address said the bank is aiming for establishing a one stop capital market service centre in Bangladesh. City Brokerage was its first step towards achieving its goal for a complete capital market solution. Sheikh Mohammad Maroof, head of markets and transactional banking, Khandaker Asadul Islam, head of brokerage operations, Mashrur Arefin, chief communications officer of City Bank attended.

City Brokerage Opens3 New CentersAsadul Islam RiponCEO, City Brokerage

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Mashrur Arefin, Head of Retail Banking & Chief Communications Officer

Md. Abdus Salam Bhuiyan, Head of Human Resources

Nazmul Karim Chowdhury, Head of Brand

Ehetesam Maskuba Elias, Assistant Manager, Brand Communications & Marketing Division

Shahnila R. Ahmed, Officer, Human Resources Division

Tasnuva Islam, Intern, Brand Communications & Marketing Division

Special thanks to Unitrend Limited

WE WOULD LIKE TO THANK EVERYONEWHO WORKED IN THIS PROJECT