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Agha Hassan Abedi: a legendary banker

Agha Hassan Abedi: a legendary banker

A legendary hero was born on May 14, 1922, in the ‘golden city of the east’ in India, what is commonly known as Lucknow. He emerged on the world horizon destined to rule many hearts and minds and assumed the role of a venerable architect of many a formidable financial empire. He has undoubtedly enlightened the financial panorama with the radiance of his vision and zeal. This revered personality, whose stature is unmatched in terms of brilliance, is none other than, Agha Hassan Abedi, who spent his early life in Lucknow. He acquired his post graduate degree in literature but adopted banking as his profession.
He beautifully fused the mundaneness of banking with a high level of human intellect and carved a scenic landscape of innovation and ingenuity. He combined in his personality a rare degree of humaneness coupled with a shrewd business acumen.Agha Hassan Abedi started his banking career with Habib Bank Limited (HBL) in Bombay and served the institution till 1957. He parted amicably from Habib Bank on a dispute of ‘principle’ and in 1959 laid the foundations of a financial institution, named United Bank Limited (UBL) in collaboration with the Saigols.
United Bank Limited has achieved significant milestones and had expanded to a network of over 600 branches nation-wide with more than a dozen overseas branches. UBL emerged as the second largest bank of the country and remained a formidable competitor to Habib Bank, till its nationalization in 1974.When nationalization of financial institutions was looming on the anvil, with the arrival of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, as the President of the country, Abedi outwitted his programme by setting up a bank in Luxembourg ie BCCI, with the help of Bank of America, the Royal family of UAE and other Middle Eastern countries.
The Ramazan war of 1973 brought to the international forefront, “Oil as a weapon”, which translated into a lucrative resource generating a stream of income for the Middle East for many decades to come. Consequently the region was flushed with abundance of petro dollars.This aroma reeked of the perfect ingredients to attract international banks; to indulge in the scrumptious deal of managing the excess bounties, of petro dollar loaded Arab states.
The highly acclaimed pioneer, of then strikingly notable Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI) broadened the purview of the bank by instituting it in 73 countries the world over in less than two decades. It even bagged the position of the 6th largest bank in terms of country network against the difficult competition posed by global banks, BCCI, as a financial institution did not ‘collapse’.The bank was shut down … forcibly closed by a college of regulators. The bank was highly liquid, but not comfortably profitable. It didn’t suffer from any non treatable financial malaise unknown to the global banking industry, but that it was shut down, was more a consequence of the interplay of diabolical political and regulatory suspicion.

Agha Hassan Abedi was a man of many parts, a master, an articulator of new management concepts, which in that era seemed too many, including his closest confidants as heresy to commercial world. Abedi addressed many issues not just fettered to the confines of banking and business, but exhibited the depth of his soul by speaking on compassion, empathy, humility, interdependence, tolerance, forbearance and interfusion. Agha Hassan Abedi was a living example of ‘People management’ and harboured on establishing relationships on this principle.
He took the role of a great leader; he also played the part of a mentor for his staff, an inspiration to the entire financial sector, envy to the competitors, and awe to the peers and an addition to the list of great leaders.In step with greatness, he possessed inexhaustible energy. He was always fresh, smiling with an enticing demeanor. Amongst the innumerable conferences that he convened, I recall how fresh, he was when he called the day’s proceeding to an end at 3:00 A.M. in Athens, Greece, having promptly started the meeting at 10:00 A.M. the previous day.
Despite the considerable age difference between us, the management trainees and, Agha Hassan Abedi, we always referred to him fondly as “Agha Sahib”. His limitless kindness endeared everyone especially the younger generation. He has been to us, a parent, a guide, a philosopher, a mentor, a leader, a visionary who we all looked up to for unwavering support.He brushed shoulders with top brass political leaders belonging to USA, Soviet Union, China, India, Pakistan and UAE and for many of them he acted as a financial and economic consultant. A fact which does not get widely acknowledged because of the defunct status of BCCI. Corporate Social Responsibility is a buzz term now. Abedi spoke of it in late seventies. He encouraged all the staff and used to speak at length in various meetings and conferences on the significance of ‘giving’ from the fortunes bestowed upon them by nature.

Abedi helped President Jimmy Carter in the establishment of Carter Centre, including the setting up of ‘Global 2000’ which dedicated itself to the underprivileged and downtrodden citizens of the third world. He personally supported many charities, globally.Pakistan was extremely dear to his heart. It is an open secret that he lent full financial support, whenever called upon to do so, by successive governments in Islamabad, his interest to promote computer literacy in particular manifests itself today in the shape of the BCCI-FAST University, the GIK University and many other such institutions stand in testimony to not only his foresight but the interest and affection he had for the youth of his country.Abedi was human, By virtue of which he was not infallible. He had his set of faults and idiosyncrasies, which many failed to understand and therefore his personality was continuously debated, within and outside the institution as a major contradistinction and contradiction.

Agha Hassan Abedi was and will always remain an enigma. Like all great men he had no successor or parallel. Consequently, I personally along with many of my age group have to this day, an unflinching faith that had, Abedi not suffered from the damaging heart attack followed by a transplant, he would have rescued the bank from the crises it faced in July 1991.He was a great man and anyone who unjustly criticises him, be it his competitors of the era or even some of his close associates, do more harm to themselves than to the legend that Abedi is!
I am certain that my ability, to capture him as an all encompassing personality, has betrayed me and I haven’t done justice in elaborating on his incredible attributes as he was a man of mesmerizing dimensions. However, I would like to conclude by recalling what Bowell remarked to the critics on the death of his guide and teacher, Samuel Johson, “Now when the old lion is dead, every ass thinks it can kick it.” Abedi will remain in the fond memories of many.



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