Lawlessness in this country of the poor has reached the lowest ebb and my personal experience with banking regulators of financial services is disappointing. Even our miserable banking system is covered up by the State Bank of Pakistan and its acting governor. I have to share with you my ordeal with Faisal Bank the bank where I keep a foreign currency account of British Pounds.
After the death of my bother I inherited among others the content of a locker that contained GBP cash notes. I went to Faisal Bank Branch in Kh-e Shahbaz, and wanted to deposit these GBP notes. That was refused by the Bank Manager saying they accept only fresh notes. Next on my insistence they said that SBP has issued a circular that restricts acceptance of cash deposits in foreign currency accounts. On further insistence I was provided with a copy of the SBP circular that did not refer to British Pound at all but to US dollars and it debarred banks from accepting damaged or mutilated dollar notes only. My notes are GBP. When I told that under Economic Reforms Law a bank cannot refuse a cash deposit or withdrawal, the bank told me to approach the State Bank.
I wrote a complaint letter to the Director, BC & CP, SBP explaining my ordeal, and asking for redress. That was in mid-May. To this day there hasn’t been any answer. After three weeks without answer – even without acknowledgement that the TCS-delivered letter had been received my repeated calls were not answered – I wrote a second letter to the Acting Governor of SBP delivered by TCS. Since then another two weeks have passed with no answer from any side.
Is that the way to deal with clients and citizens in this country? Why are the laws of the land that are available not applied? The consequence of this can only be that either I have to sell to money changers racket on a discounted price or take my money out of the country. I can solve my private problem by doing so. But what about our country? If we allow the institutions to deteriorate and play havoc the whole country is weakened and one day the damage might be irreversible. Hope our regulators will not compromise before Banking Mafia that has already damaging our economic health.
Ali Ashraf Khan
Karachi
The victim in this case is requested to send the letter to as many editors as possible to be published as Letter to editor, to Banking Ombudsmen and Ombudsmen for Overseas Pakistanis, in the interest of the banking customers at large.
Secondly, he should also send a complaint letter to the management of Faysal Bank citing the incident and to protest on the caliber of the staff they got in their branches.
First the IMF destroyed our economy by demoting our foreign trade and hard currency reserves by various restrictions. Now SBP of Pakistan also seems to have joined joined the fray to empty our foreign currency reserves by restricting opening of FC accounts. If you think intelligently, our lack of hard currency is the root cause of our subjugation to foreign powers ( forced to beg) and our constant destabilization and being unable to do anything against terrorism-massacres.
Power of the banking mafia is trying to increase corruption.
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