February 02, 2008	Saturday	Muharram 23, 1429

KARACHI, Feb 1: Mr Ehsan Mani has been appointed acting chief executive officer of United National Bank Limited (UNBL), a UK-based joint subsidiary of National Bank of Pakistan and United Bank Limited, in place of Mr Abid Mufti, CEO of the company, who is said to be on long leave.

A well-placed source in London told Dawn that the UNBL was in the midst of some serious problems for out of routine financial handlings. The source tipped that the UK regulatory authorities were contemplating to initiate a criminal case against its chief executive.

It was also disclosed that the concerned agencies were particularly interested in some financial transfers made to certain bank branches in sensitive locations in Pakistan.

National Bank of Pakistan President Ali Reza brushed aside as ‘completely baseless’ the rumours doing rounds in the market regarding some mini scam in the UNBL, when reached by Dawn on Friday. Responding to a query regarding Mr Mufti’s prolonged absence, Mr Reza insisted: “He was on leave for health reasons”.

When asked as to why the bank felt the need to appoint an acting CEO if Mr Mufti’s absence was nothing but a routine sick leave, Mr Reza admitted that the board of director of UNBL was uncomfortable with Mr Mufti’s style of management.

The UNBL was created a few years back to meet the regulatory requirements of the United Kingdom as both the NBP and UBL were unable to keep up with the tougher standards particularly those concerning capital adequacy ratio.