Silkbank doesn’t fulfill paid up capital requirement

Lahore, Pakistan:- Deputy Governor State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Dr. Kamran Shehzad said on Friday that Finance Minister Shaukat Tareen’s bank ‘Silkbank’ did not fulfill minimum paid up capital requirements.

Answering a question during National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Finance, Dr. Kamran said that minimum paid up capital requirement set by the SBP was Rs 6 billion whereas Silkbank had paid up capital of Rs 3 billion only. Finance Secretary Salman Siddique said State Bank was not practically independent and worked under Ministry of Finance.

The committee failed to make a decision to reject Anti-Money Laundering Ordinance, 2007 promulgated by then president Pervez Musharraf as Pakistan People’s Party opposed the move. Chairperson of the Standing Committee Fauzia Wahab said “it does not matter if a law is made by a dictator or elected parliament, law is law”.

On the other hand, Shaukat Tareen, when contacted by Dunya News for his opinion, said he held minority shares in Silkbank and had resigned as Director after joining the government. “I don’t know if the accusation is correct or not as I could not pay attention to the issues related to the bank due to my job as a minister,” he added. The finance minister said he could not intervene in State Bank’s matters despite being Minister for Finance. Tareen vowed to resign if proved guilty of influencing State Bank’s decision. “I will seek written explanation from the committee about the accusation, if they proved it right, I will resign from the ministry”.