Bank Makramah Limited — Official Overview & Key Facts

Written & reviewed by Dildar Hussain — 10+ years in Pakistani banking, BS Banking & Finance (NUML University) · Last Verified: Sep 10, 2026

Bank Makramah Limited: Quick Answer

Bank Makramah Limited (BML), PSX ticker BML, is a Karachi-headquartered Islamic commercial bank in Pakistan, converted from conventional to Shariah-compliant banking after the State Bank of Pakistan approved its rename from Summit Bank Limited in November 2023. It is majority-owned by Nasser Abdulla Hussain Lootah (~60.44%), operates 160 branches as of its most recent interim filing (Q1 2026), and carries a VIS credit rating of A-/A2 (Stable) as of this page's last verification.

Bank Makramah Limited (BML) is a Karachi-headquartered, PSX-listed Islamic commercial bank operating in Pakistan under Bank Makramah Limited (PSX: BML). It was known as Summit Bank Limited until November 2023, when the State Bank of Pakistan approved its rename and its conversion into a fully Shariah-compliant bank. The bank's roots go back further still — to Rupali Bank Limited's Pakistan operations, amalgamated in 2006 under a State Bank-supervised scheme after Rupali could no longer meet Pakistan's rising minimum capital requirements as a stand-alone foreign bank.

This page focuses on the facts that identify Bank Makramah Limited as a corporate and regulatory entity: incorporation, ownership, leadership, credit standing, and financial results. For branch-level and product-level detail, the linked pages further down cover account opening, the mobile app, cards, and the branch/ATM network individually.

Bank Makramah Limited: Origins and Name Change

Bank Makramah Limited was incorporated in Pakistan on December 9, 2005 as a public company limited by shares, under what was then the Companies Ordinance, 1984 (now the Companies Act, 2017). In 2006, Arif Habib Securities Limited acquired the Pakistan operations of Rupali Bank Limited under a State Bank of Pakistan Scheme of Amalgamation, and the combined entity began operating as Arif Habib Bank. It was rebranded Summit Bank Limited in 2010 following a further merger with Atlas Bank.

The most recent chapter began in 2023, when Dubai-based businessman Nasser Abdulla Hussain Lootah acquired a majority stake in Summit Bank. Under his leadership, the Board of Directors moved to convert the bank into a dedicated Islamic bank, and the Federal Cabinet approved the name change from Summit Bank Limited to Bank Makramah Limited. The bank has stated that existing cheque books, debit cards, and account relationships carried over unchanged through the transition.

Bank Makramah Limited: At a Glance

Legal Name

Bank Makramah Limited

Formerly Known As

Summit Bank Limited

Incorporated

Dec 9, 2005

Stock Ticker

PSX: BML

Registered Office

20 – Al Asghar Plaza, Blue Area, Islamabad

Principal Office

Summit Tower, G-2, Block 2, Clifton, Karachi (a portion of this property was sold in 2025)

Branch Network

160 branches (Q1 2026); 161 at FY2025 year-end

Chairman

Abdulla Nasser Abdulla Hussain Lootah

President & CEO

Jawad Majid Khan

Company Secretary

Assad Rabbani

Credit Rating (VIS)

A- / A2, Stable

Auditor

Yousaf Adil, Chartered Accountants

Branch count: 148 conventional + 12 Islamic banking branches (160 total) as of March 31, 2026 (Q1 2026 unaudited interim report); 149 conventional + 12 Islamic (161 total) at December 31, 2025 (FY2025 audited annual report). The bank's own marketing and social channels round this further to "170+ branches" — see the Branch & ATM Locator for sourcing detail.

Ownership and Board of Directors

Bank Makramah Limited's controlling shareholder is Nasser Abdulla Hussain Lootah, who holds roughly 60.44% of the bank, acquired in 2023, and serves as Chairman of the Board (Non-Executive Director). Suroor Investments Limited, an entity connected to the same sponsor group, holds a further roughly 26.59%, together accounting for the large majority of the register. Waseem Mehdi Syed sits on the board as an Independent Director. Day-to-day management is led by President & Chief Executive Officer Jawad Majid Khan, supported by Deputy CEO Farhan Baig, CFO Salman Zafar Siddiqi, and a management team spanning treasury, compliance, risk, and Islamic banking functions.

Credit Rating: From Suspension to Restoration

BML's credit history has been volatile. VIS Credit Rating Company (formerly JCR-VIS) suspended the bank's medium-to-long-term rating of 'BBB-' and short-term rating of 'A-3' in 2019, reflecting the financial strain the bank was under at the time — a period during which it also reported successive annual losses (2022, 2023, and 2024, per PSX-published financials). Following the 2023 ownership change, a capital injection, and an ongoing restructuring programme, VIS assigned Bank Makramah Limited fresh initial entity ratings of 'A-' (long-term) and 'A2' (short-term) with a Stable outlook in March 2026 — restoring coverage after the 2019 suspension and improving on the pre-suspension rating. VIS attributed the upgrade to strengthened sponsor support, successful recapitalisation, and compliance with Minimum Capital Requirement (MCR) and Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) benchmarks, alongside a record annual profit.

Financial Performance

Figures as reported to PSX; standardised presentation may differ slightly from BML's own annual report line items. See the Share Price & Financial Results page for the full breakdown and the latest quarter.

BML swung from a net loss of roughly Rs. 5.2 billion in 2024 to a net profit of roughly Rs. 8.8 billion in 2025 — the bank's first genuinely profitable year in this recent run of public filings. That profit, however, was driven mainly by one-off items rather than core lending income: a roughly Rs. 21.03 billion net reversal of credit-loss allowance and write-offs (recoveries on old bad loans), a roughly Rs. 4.12 billion gain recognised through profit and loss on the sale of a portion of its Karachi head-office (G-2) building — see the Restructuring page for the sale terms — and a roughly Rs. 2.25 billion capital gain on government securities. Core net mark-up income was actually negative for the year. A more durable positive from the same annual report: shareholders' equity turned positive at roughly Rs. 23.7 billion in 2025 after four straight years of negative equity (2021–2024), and the Capital Adequacy Ratio improved from roughly -27.5% to 11.65%, bringing BML into compliance with the regulatory Minimum Capital Requirement for the first time in years — helped by a roughly Rs. 5 billion capital injection from the sponsor shareholder. That said, the turnaround hasn't been perfectly linear: BML's Q1 2026 results (transmitted to PSX Apr 29–30, 2026) show a net loss of roughly Rs. 714 million for the quarter, a reminder that a single strong annual result doesn't remove quarter-to-quarter volatility. Sponsor support has continued since: on August 18, 2026, BML's board approved a further Rs. 10 billion investment from Lootah, initially booked as an advance against share subscription pending regulatory approval — see the Restructuring page for details. See the Share Price & Financial Results page for the full quarterly breakdown.

Corporate Restructuring: The Global Haly Merger

In October 2025, the Competition Commission of Pakistan approved the merger of Global Haly Development Limited — a real-estate and infrastructure company — into Bank Makramah Limited under a Scheme of Arrangement. Under the deal, BML issues ordinary shares to Global Haly's shareholders in exchange for the merger, BML remains the surviving listed entity, and Global Haly is dissolved on completion. The CCP's review found no competitive overlap, since Global Haly does not operate in banking, and noted the transaction is intended primarily to help BML meet minimum capital requirements and strengthen its balance sheet. Full detail on this and other corporate actions is on the Corporate Actions & Restructuring page.

Islamic Banking Transition

BML's conversion to Islamic banking is still in progress rather than fully complete on paper: the FY2025 annual report shows the bank operating both Conventional Banking Branches and Islamic Banking Branches side by side, with the Islamic side growing as the transition continues. Deposit products such as the Asaan Account are now offered in both conventional and Islamic variants, and the bank maintains a Shariah Board and published Fatwa documentation. See the dedicated Islamic Banking page for how the conversion actually affects account holders.

Good For

• Confirming BML's legal name, ownership, and leadership before opening an account
• Understanding why the Summit Bank name disappeared in 2023
• Checking BML's current VIS credit rating and PSX risk-alert status
• Seeing BML's recent profit/loss history in one table

Frequently Asked Questions

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Cross-check Bank Makramah's regulatory standing directly with State Bank of Pakistan, Pakistan Stock Exchange, and VIS Credit Rating Company.