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DUBAI, May 21 (Reuters) - Pakistan's central bank has givenMeezan Bank Ltd approval "in-principle" to purchasethe local banking business of HSBC, thesharia-compliant lender said in a bourse filing on Wednesday.
The statement did not give a price for the deal, which stillrequires shareholder approval and final consent by theregulator.
The sale is part of a strategy by Europe's biggest bank toexit from countries where it is unprofitable or lacks scale.HSBC's Pakistan unit has 10 branches and had assets of about$455 million at the end of 2013.
In contrast, Pakistani lenders are expanding, buoyed byregulatory steps to develop the Islamic banking sector in theworld's second-most populous Muslim nation.
HSBC and Meezan Bank agreed the deal earlier this month,which is expected to be completed in the second half of 2014.
There are five full-fledged Islamic banks in Pakistan aswell as 14 so-called Islamic windows, where conventional lendersoffer Islamic financial services. Several are looking to grow orspin off existing operations while new entrants are alsoexpected. (Reporting by Bernardo Vizcaino; Editing by Matt Smith and MarkPotter)
