"We have already introduced that in Hong Kong and India, and we will introduce that in Bangladesh too, " said Nargolwala in an exclusive interview with The Daily Star.

However, he did not give any time frame when the new product will hit the market.

He also said Bangladesh is among the top 10 countries in terms of profitability.

"Our challenge is to get bigger from a niche foreign bank to a broader segment of the population. This will need a lot of technologies and investment in physical infrastructure," he expressed.

Explaining his bank's operation in Bangladesh, Nargolwala said Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) did not go into project financing quickly as it was basically a trade financing bank and project financing can be a dangerous area.

"You need to have the right franchise, skills and customers. Last year, we bought ANZ's project financing and we got the team. Now we are strong and if Bangladesh does present good prospects, we will get into project financing," he maintained.

He also pointed out that Standard Chartered is Asia's top syndication bank and is also strong in debt financing.

"Very recently, we have made a $350 million syndication transaction with GrameenPhone with SCB as the lead bank. It is the largest debt financing deal in Bangladesh," Nargolwala mentioned.

He took a very positive view about the rise of local banks in Bangladesh over the last few years and termed it as an important new phenomenon posing new challenges to foreign banks. These banks, riding on new technologies, have modern back offices and have broader networks. And the foreign banks who operated in the high-end market now feel their competition is no more among themselves but with the local banks, Nargolwala observed.

About Standard Chartered's global strategy, he said it is a financial institution very much focussed on Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

“We intend to be the leading international bank focussed on these regions. We have a large US dollar clearing operation for financial institution customers who clear money for trade and Bangladesh is the single largest customer in our New York clearing business," he said.

When Standard Chartered was formed 150 years ago, China and India were two big economies and these two are likely to regain their positions in future, he observed.

"A significant part of global growth will come from Asia. Here we have an abundance of opportunities and we have to prioritise them. In doing that our approach is organic growth as it was in 2004 when we saw 39 percent growth in earning per share," Nargolwala said.

Talking on governance, which is his core area of work, Nargolwala said there has been a general crisis of trust; politicians don't trust the government and businesses. "All of us have to take some responsibilities for the situation. We need to have an introspection," he said. "At Standard Chartered, we don't view governance as something that only concerns the bank board. It has to be pervasive right through the operation."

He said the bank has launched a value system for its employees to be creative, courageous, trustworthy, responsive and international. The bank reviews the individuals every year and gives them ratings for promotions.

"If someone did good in business but did it in a greedy manner by cutting corners then he will not get high value scores and his bonus will not be much. We are a performance organisation but that has to be done in the right way," he stressed.

"Islamic banking is our top priority as we want to tap the 1.2 billion Muslims around the world. But the problem is that the interpretation of the Sharia law in various countries is fragmented. It makes it difficult to design a single product for the segment, " he added.