May 18: Bloomberg report by Faseeh Mangi and Chris Kay states that on his first day as head of Pakistan’s second-biggest bank, Saeed Ahmad visited the branch below his office in Karachi. It was 9:15 a.m., past opening time, but the space was deserted. Combating such “lethargy” is one of Ahmad’s priorities as he tries to turn around National Bank of Pakistan, which had lost its position as the country’s largest bank by assets and was suffering from bloated costs before he took over last year. From the outset, Ahmad saw fixing the bank’s culture as key to improving its bottom line. “I was reluctant to come,” said Ahmad, who took over as National Bank’s chief executive officer in March 2017. “In my covering letter I did write what I’m going to do: I’m going to have townhall meetings, emphasize service quality, change the culture, attend to business.”
Bloomberg Quint: Turning around this Pakistan Bank involves boosting loans and tackling thieves
