HBL is Shutting Down its Operations in Lebanon

Habib Bank Limited (HBL) is winding up its branch in Lebanon as part of the bank’s consolidation plan of foreign operations and enhancing its focus on local and profitable operations countrywide. The bank has commenced an orderly wind-down of its Lebanon operations. Formalities for completion of the wind-down are underway, according to its quarterly financial report 2022. HBL’s operations in Lebanon were established in 1964 in the capital, Beirut. The bank was providing various banking services to its clients of various segments. During the past three years, the bank shut down multiple foreign branches and subsidiaries, including branches in Paris, New York, Seychelles, Kenya, Afghanistan, and subsidiaries in the Netherlands, Hong Kong, and Mauritius. The bank management expressed its stance earlier on the closure of its branches and subsidiaries for the rightsizing of operations and to bring efficiency to the system, particularly in the international operations of the bank, which also includes its strategy of shifting focus to the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). Pakistan’s banking industry footprint is reducing gradually in the international banking space as various leading banks have shut down their operations in foreign markets in recent years on the basis of continuous losses or unprofitable operations.