History
United Bank Limited was founded in November 1958 by a group of former Habib Bank Limited executives.[10] In 1974, the Bhutto government nationalized the bank.[4]
In 2002, the Government of Pakistan sold 51% of its shares of the bank to a consortium of Abu Dhabi Group and Bestway.[11] In the same year, the bank merged its operations in the United Kingdom with those belonging to National Bank of Pakistan to form United National Bank Limited (later renamed UBL UK). United Bank owned 55% of the joint-venture with National Bank of Pakistan owning the remainder.
In 2005, UBL was listed on the Karachi Stock Exchange, following an initial public offering at a strike price of PKR 50.[12]
In June 2007 the Global Depository Receipts of UBL were listed on the London Stock Exchange. The offering targeted institutional investors and raised exceeding USD 650 million.[13] UBL is the only Pakistani bank and one of the only two Pakistani companies that are listed on the London Stock Exchange.[14]
In April 2010, UBL launched UBL Omni,[15] an in-house developed project designed to provide banking facilities to the unbanked population of Pakistan. As of June 2014 UBL Omni had a customer base exceeding 6.8 million, with over 1.5 million active cards in issue and 5 million monthly transactions valued at over US$253 million.[16] Through the success of UBL Omni 1.55 million previously unbanked individuals have opened mobile bank accounts with UBL in Pakistan.[16] Today, Omni Dukaan network has grown to 42,100 agents in Pakistan.[17]
In January 2011, Bestway Group increased its shareholding in UBL[18] to 51.07% by acquiring an additional 20% of the shares from the Abu Dhabi Group.[19] This was a total investment of US$230.0 million in Pakistan's second-largest private commercial bank.[20][21]
The Bank added 200 branches in 2011 and 2012, thus increasing its domestic network to over 1,300 online branches[22] with 800 ATMs.
In June 2012, UBL led a consortium which acquired a 67.4% stake in Khushhali Bank, which is the largest micro-finance institution in Pakistan.[23]
In December 2013, the Bestway Group increased its shareholding in UBL to 61.37% by acquiring an additional 10.3% of the shares from the Abu Dhabi Group.[24] Through an investment of over $120 million, the Bestway Group acquired the entire shareholding of its former joint venture partner, the Abu Dhabi Group.[25]
In June 2014, the Government of Pakistan sold its remaining 19.8% stake in UBL for US$387 million ($310m of which was in foreign exchange). This was Pakistan's first transaction in the global equity market in almost eight years.[26][27]
In 2017, the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) filed a criminal case against Khalid Iqbal, head of capital markets at United Bank Limited, and three of his accomplices for front running.[28][29] The case involved two unusual purchases of Gharibwal Cement Limited shares by UBL, authorized by Iqbal.[30] Investigations revealed that Iqbal's accomplices bought shares at lower prices and sold them to UBL at higher prices.[30] The court convicted all four individuals, concluding that they made illegal profits and caused financial losses to UBL.[30]
In November 2018, UBL announced that it was voluntarily shutting down its New York City branch due to it being commercially nonviable to operate.[31]
UBL announced on 12 June 2021 that it was winding up its wholly owned Switzerland subsidiary, UBL (Switzerland) AG, which it had owned since 1967.[32] The process completed on 2 June 2023.[33]
UBL announced on 12 September 2023 that its largest shareholder, Bestway Group, had submitted an "Indicative Offer" to acquire UBL's 55% shareholding in its United Kingdom joint venture with the National Bank of Pakistan, United National Bank Limited "UNBL UK". This was approved by the Board of Directors of UBL but is conditional on the approval of the State Bank of Pakistan.[34][35]
In March 2024, Silkbank announced its merger with United Bank Limited after both banks reached an agreement. On March 10, 2025, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) officially sanctioned the amalgamation of Silkbank with UBL under Section 48 of the Banking Companies Ordinance 1962. The merger became effective on March 11, 2025, fully integrating Silkbank's operations into UBL.[36] As part of the agreement, UBL issued new shares to Silkbank shareholders at a swap ratio of 1 UBL share (face value PKR 10 each) for every 325 Silkbank shares (face value PKR 10 each).[37]
