Eastern Bank
Eastern Bank is known for its corporate banking expertise serving Bangladeshi industry, but in the past year it has also made a big effort to broaden its services for retail investors in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
The bank, incorporated in 1992, is led by chief executive Ali Reza Iftekhar. Its Tk228.9 billion ($2.7 billion) loan portfolio at the end of 2020 showed the broad exposure Eastern has to Bangladesh’s main sectors including ready-made garments, textile mills, power and gas, ship building and breaking, pharmaceuticals, construction, agriculture, transport and many more.
Eastern attracts corporate clients with its innovative products and customized financing solutions, which cover term lending, project financing, working capital financing and trade financing, as well as cash management solutions, payroll banking, syndication and advisory services.
But the bank also goes looking for new opportunities and has recently discovered plenty of potential business from government infrastructure projects. It set up a unit inside its corporate banking division to target and provide financing to government contractors working on various infrastructure developments funded by Bangladesh’s national budget.
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