KARACHI: BIPL Securities said on Monday the Sindh High Court has sanctioned the investment bank’s merger with AKD Securities Ltd, an unlisted brokerage house that’s part of businessman Aqeel Karim Dhedhi’s conglomerate.

       It said the effective date of the operational merger will be announced “shortly”.

       The parent company of BIPL Securities, BankIslami Pakistan Ltd, transferred its entire stake constituting 77.12 per cent of the paid-up share capital to AKD Securities almost one year ago.

       The Islamic bank first announced in April 2019 that it would sell BIPL Securities because the stock brokerage business was not in line with the Shariah-compliant mandate of the commercial lender.

       Until 2015, BIPL Securities operated under the name of KASB Securities Ltd. It was listed as an asset on the balance sheet of KASB Bank Ltd, which was put under a moratorium and subsequently sold off to BankIslami for its non-compliance with regulatory requirements.

       As a result, the Islamic lender acquired KASB Securities along with its parent KASB Bank in May 2015 against a total payment of Rs1,000.

       Published in Dawn,June 7th, 2022