KARACHI: The newly appointed Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of JS Bank, Basir Shamsie Friday said the bank is focusing on corporate and mortgage financing instead of investing in Pakistani Investment Bonds (PIBs) and the Treasury Bills (T-Bills).
Talking to Pakistan Today, the CEO said, “The bank offers loans to drivers of Careem as they want to drive their own cars instead of any other.” Every month, we are providing financing for 250-300 cars and the drivers pay back their instalments on time.”
Earlier, the commercial banks was earning huge profits from the discount rates of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), but now the rates are going up and now it is the time to invest in advances and mortgage financing etc, Shamsie said.
He further claimed, “Banks have to take the risk like in other world as, without any risk, they cannot earn in Pakistan. The mortgage houses, advances or loans, auto financing and agriculture lending are risky products, but this is the only way for the private banks to earn profits.”
JS Bank’s non-performing loans are very nominal, therefore, the bank has decided to come forward, the CEO further added.
He said that over the period of 11 years, we have 323 branches in Pakistan from four branches and now the bank’s employees are over 5000. The bank had around 150 employees when it started this bank, he added.
Basir Shamsie said that he joined the JS Group in 1994 and prior to being appointed as the new CEO, he served as JS Bank’s Deputy CEO while holding the office of Group Head Treasury, Investment Banking and Financial Institutions, and Senior Executive Vice President (SEVP).
At JS Bank, in addition to his Group Head functions, he is responsible to head various committees and new business initiatives. He has also served on JS Bank’s founding Board of Directors for 5 years till 2012, prior to which he served on the Board of JS Global Capital Limited as Chairman. Later in the year 2016, he joined JS Investments Limited as a member of Board of Directors.
Shamsie is a debt markets specialist and has closed over 60 debt capital market transactions, many of which have been a landmark for Pakistan, such as the first commercial paper, first floating rate instrument, first perpetual bond, first bank subordinated debt, first 10-year corporate bond, and the first local Sukuk bond worth Rs8 billion for Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA). Before joining JS Group, he worked in the Finance function at Upjohn Pakistan.
