Meezan Bank Limited (Urdu ：میزان بینک） Is A Pakistani Islamic Bank Headquartered In Karachi. It Is The Largest Islamic Bank In Pakistan And The Largest Bank In Pakistan By Market Capitalization.
History
Meezan Bank Is An Islamic Investment Bank Founded In 1997 By Noor Financial, Pak Kuwait Investment Company And Islamic Development Bank. It Was Then Known As Al-Meezan Investment Bank.
In 2000, Meezan Bank Was Listed On The Karachi Stock Exchange.
In 2002, Meezan Bank Acquired Société Générale's Pakistan Operations. [ 7] Beginning In 2002, Meezan Bank Faced The Challenge Of Gaining Recognition In Pakistan Due To Its Unfamiliarity With Islamic Banking And Its Stricter Lending Scrutiny. To Overcome This, Meezan Attracted Deposits From Religious Muslims And Shifted Its Focus To Providing Loans To SMEs, Including Those That Had Previously Avoided Using Traditional Banking For Religious Reasons, Enabling It To Serve Underserved Segments.
In 2013, Noor Financial Attempted To Sell Its Entire 49.1% Stake (valued At $190 Million) To A British Virgin Islands Company Called Vision Financial Holdings, But Was Blocked By The State Bank Of Pakistan.
In May 2014, Meezan Bank Agreed To Acquire HSBC Bank Of The Middle East's Operations In Pakistan, Which Included 10 Local Branches And 75 Multinational Corporate Clients. A Year Later, Meezan Bank Acquired HSBC Oman's Pakistan Operations, Which Consisted Of One Branch.
In March 2019, Noor Financial Sold 34.30 Million Meezan Bank Shares To Institutional Investors For $20.92 Million. This Follows Several Divestments Of Its Stake By Noor Financial In 2018
