Section 48: Procedure for amalgamation of banking companies

48. Procedure for amalgamation of banking companies.-- (1) Notwithstanding anything contained in any law for the time being in force, no banking company shall be amalgamated with another banking company, unless a scheme containing the terms of such amalgamation has been placed in draft before the shareholders of each of the banking companies concerned separately, and approved by a resolution passed by a majority in number representing two thirds in value of the shareholders of each of the said companies, present either in person or by proxy at a meeting called for the purpose. (2) Notice of every such meeting as is referred to in sub-section (1) shall be given to every shareholder of each of the banking companies concerned in accordance with the relevant articles of association, indicating the time, place and object of the meeting, and shall also be published at least once a week for three consecutive weeks in not less than two newspapers which circulate in the locality or localities where the registered offices of the banking companies concerned are situated, one of such newspapers being in a language commonly understood in the locality or localities. (3) Any shareholder, who has voted against the scheme, of amalgamation at the meeting or has given notice in writing at or prior to the meeting to the company concerned or the presiding officer of the meeting that he dissents from the scheme of amalgamation, shall be entitled, in the event of the scheme being sanctioned by the State Bank to claim from the banking company concerned, in respect of the shares held by him in that company, their value as determined by the State Bank when sanctioning the scheme and such determination by the State Bank as to the value of the shares to be paid to dissenting shareholder shall be final for all purposes. (4) If the scheme of amalgamation is approved by the requisite majority of shareholders in accordance with the provisions of this section, it shall be submitted to the State Bank for sanction and shall, if sanctioned by the State Bank by an order in writing passed in this behalf be binding on the banking companies concerned and also on all the shareholders thereof [:]1 1[Provided that in case of foreign banking companies, notwithstanding the fact that the scheme of the amalgamation is not approved by the requisite majority of shareholders, such sanction may be granted by the State Bank upon a certificate issued by their respective head offices approving the scheme.] (5) Where a scheme of amalgamation is sanctioned by the State Bank under the provisions of this section, the State Bank shall transmit a copy of the order sanctioning the scheme to the registrar before whom the banking companies concerned have been registered and the registrar shall, on receipt of any such order, strike off the name of the company (hereinafter in this section referred to as the amalgamated banking company) which by reason of the amalgamation will cease to function. (6) On the sanctioning of scheme of amalgamation by the State Bank, the property of the amalgamated banking company shall, by virtue of the order of sanction, be transferred to and vest in, and the liabilities of the said company shall, by virtue of the said order be transferred to and become the liabilities of the banking company which under the scheme of amalgamation is to acquire the business of the amalgamated banking company, subject in all cases to the terms of the order sanctioning the scheme. 2[(7) In this section, "banking company" means any banking company and includes the National Bank of Pakistan, the Agricultural Development Bank of Pakistan, the Industrial Development Bank of Pakistan, the House Building Finance Corporation, investment finance companies, venture capital companies, housing finance companies, leasing companies, 1[branch of a foreign banking company doing business in Pakistan] and any other financial institution covered under section 3A.]

Effective date: 1962-06-07

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