Head of the Retail Banking division at Ahli United Bank (AUB) Ashraf Shabib expected that the retail banking portfolio will close at EGP450 million by the end of June against EGP400 million. In a statements to Amwal Al Ghad, Shabib noted that the bank considers launching a numbers of new products by the upcoming period including Platinum Card and Mobile Banking service to be launched in 2015 and it will include many banks such as National Bank of Egypt (NBE), Emirates NBD and Housing and Development Bank. The bank is aiming within the ongoing year finalising the launch of two branches in Alexandria and El Rehab and it is currently inaugurating new branch in City Stars soon. Ahli United Bank has recently signed an agreement with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the US tax authority, to adopt the FATCA law (Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act). Hence the bank signed a contract with Ernst & Young LLP, so that the latter would provide technical and financial consulting needed to meet with FATCA's terms and conditions, he elaborated. The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) was signed into law on 18 March 2010. Its purpose is to uncover U.S. persons who may be evading U.S. taxes by investing through foreign financial institutions (FI) or other foreign entities. Countries refusing to comply run the risk of causing their financial institutions to be subject to a 30% withholding tax on both income and capital from US sources.
