Day: September 9, 2014

Non-banks hit a rough patch Fierce competitive, low demand put their profitability at stake Sajjadur Rahman: Profitability of non-bank financial institutions is shrinking though their management strives to extract profits from a dull market this year, industry insiders said. The situation is getting aggravated further due to early payoffs of loans by relatively good corporate clients. “Banks, which are facing a dearth of business, are taking away our clients (credit lines). We cannot compete with banks as our cost of fund is higher than that of banks,” said Asad Khan, managing director of Prime Finance. Khan, also the president of Bangladesh Leasing and Finance Companies' Association, said some of his company's borrowers paid off loans worth around Tk 100 crore so far this year. Alm...

The city with zero environmental impact The impressive Binhai Eco City in the north of China aims to have little or no effect on its surroundings       Every new building that's constructed is planned with its environmental impact in mind, but few projects are as climate-conscious as the new Binhai Eco City, slated for a site near Tianjin in the north of China. The country has to balance huge commercial and economic growth with its ongoing pollution and congestion problems, which is why Holm Architecture Office (HAO) and Archiland International (AI) have come up with a series of buildings that are self-sustaining and have virtually no impact on the surrounding environment. These concept plans have just won the first prize in a competition run jointly by the gove...