Union Bank was established in 1991 and had its headquarters in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan. Prior to the merger with Standard Chartered Bank (see below), it was Pakistan's eighth largest bank and had 65 branches in some 22 cities, about US$2 billion in assets, and about 400,000 customers.
In 2006, Standard Chartered Bank acquired 81% of Union Bank's shares for US$413 million. Under Pakistani law, it had to delist Union Bank and make an offer for the outstanding shares; the offer raised the total purchase price to about US$511. On 30 December 2006, Standard Chartered merged Union Bank with its own subsidiary in Pakistan, which has 46 branches in 10 cities. The merged bank is named Standard Chartered Bank (Pakistan) and is now Pakistan's sixth largest bank
National Bank of Pakistan is the largest commercial bank operating in Pakistan . Its balance sheet size surpasses that of any of the other banks functioning locally. It has redefined its role and has moved from a public sector organisation into a modern commercial bank. The Bank's services are available to individuals, corporate entities and government. While it continues to act as trustee of public funds and as the agent to the State Bank of Pakistan (in places where SBP does not have a presence) it has diversified its business portfolio and is today a major lead player in the debt equity market, corporate investment banking, retail and consumer banking, agricultural financing, treasury services and is showing growing interest in promoting and developing the country's small and medium enterprises and at the same time fulfilling its social responsibilities, NBP headquarters in Karachi, Pakistan with over 1,200 branches country wide. The bank provides both commercial and public sector banking services. It has assets worth USD 12.293 billion in 2007 [1]. Its subsidiaries include NBP Capital, NBP Modaraba Management Company, NBP Exchange Company, Taurus Securities, NBP Almaty et al.'
Bank Alfalah Limited is a private bank in Pakistan owned by the Abu Dhabi Group. Bank Alfalah was incorporated on June 21, 1997 as a public limited company under the Companies Ordinance 1984. Its banking operations commenced from November 1, 1997. The bank is engaged in commercial banking and related services as defined in the Banking companies ordinance, 1962.
Allied Bank, formally known as Allied Banking Corporation, is one of the largest banks in the Philippines, ranking tenth in terms of assets. It is also one of two universal banks in the Philippines not to be traded on the Philippine Stock Exchange, the other being the United Coconut Planters Bank.
Listed below is a table of historical exchange rates relative to the U.S. Dollar, at present the most widely traded currency in the world.[1] An exchange rate represents the value of one currency in another. An exchange rate between two currencies fluctuates over time. The value of a currency relative to a third currency may be obtained by dividing one U.S. dollar rate by another. For example if there are ¥120 to the dollar and €1.2 to the dollar then the number of yen per euro is 120/1.2 = 100.
The magnitude of the numbers in the list do not indicate, by themselves, the strength or weakness of a particular currency. For example the U.S. Dollar could be rebased tomorrow so that 1 new dollar was worth 100 old dollars. Then all the numbers in the table would be multiplied by one hundred, but it does not mean all the world's currencies just got weaker. However it is useful to look at the variation over time of a particular exchange rate. If the number consistently increases through time, then it is a strong indication that the economy of the country or countries using that currency are in a less robust state than that of the United States (see e.g. the Turkish Lira). The exchange rates of advanced economies such as that Japan or Hong Kong against the dollar tend to fluctuate up and down, representing much shorter-term relative economic strengths, rather than move consistently in a particular direction.
Brain drain or human capital flight is a large emigration of individuals with technical skills or knowledge, normally due to conflict, lack of opportunity, political instability, or health risks. Brain drain is usually regarded as an economic cost, since emigrants usually take with them the fraction of value of their training sponsored by the government. It is a parallel of capital flight which refers to the same movement of financial capital. The term was coined by the Royal Society to describe the emigration of "scientists and technologists" to North America from post-war Europe.[1] The converse phenomenon is brain gain, which occurs when there is a large-scale immigration of technically qualified persons. Brain drain can be stopped by providing individuals who have expertise with career opportunities and giving them opportunities to prove their capabilities.[citation needed]
The foreign exchange market (currency, forex, or FX) trades currencies. It lets banks and other institutions easily buy and sell currencies. [1]
The purpose of the foreign exchange market is to help international trade and investment. A foreign exchange market helps businesses convert one currency to another. For example, it permits a U.S. business to import European goods and pay Euros, even though the business's income is in U.S. dollars.
In a typical foreign exchange transaction a party purchases a quantity of one currency by paying a quantity of another currency. The modern foreign exchange market started forming during the 1970s when countries gradually switched to floating exchange rates from the previous exchange rate regime, which remained fixed as per the Bretton Woods system.
