Commercial Bank

First Women Bank Overview

History, ownership, leadership, and key facts about Pakistan's only bank chartered specifically to serve women.

• Founded 1989
• PACRA: A / A1
• Owned by IHC (UAE)

Written & reviewed by Dildar Hussain — 10+ years in Pakistani banking, BS Banking & Finance (NUML University) — Last verified: 2026-09-07

Not to be confused with: First Women's Bank, an unrelated fintech based in Chicago, Illinois, USA, founded in 2021. This page covers First Women Bank Limited (FWBL), the Pakistani commercial bank headquartered in Karachi.

First Women Bank is one of Pakistan's smaller scheduled commercial banks, but it holds a unique charter: it is the only bank in the country with a legal mandate to focus on the financial and business needs of women. This page traces every fact about First Women Bank back to an official source — FWBL's own disclosures, PACRA's rating reports, and the Government of Pakistan's privatization filings — rather than repeating marketing copy.

First women bank is the name most people search for, but the institution's full legal name is First Women Bank Limited (FWBL). It was created through an act of parliament in 1989, in the public sector, with five major state-owned banks and the Ministry of Finance as its original shareholders. That changed permanently in 2026, when the bank was privatized to a UAE investor — the single biggest event in FWBL's history since its founding.

What Is First Women Bank?

Founded

1989

Founder

Benazir Bhutto (PM)

Headquarters

Beaumont Rd, Karachi

Branch Network

42 branches, 24 cities

First President/CEO

Akram Khatoon (1989–2004)

Current CEO

Farrukh Iqbal Khan

Credit Rating

A / A1 (PACRA)

Majority Owner

EVE Holding RSC Ltd (IHC)

Because it is regulated by the State Bank of Pakistan like every other scheduled bank, FWBL's capital adequacy, minimum capital requirement, and governance remain subject to the same central-bank oversight described on SBP's own site — a requirement that carried directly into the terms of its 2026 privatization deal.

Branch and city figures confirmed from FWBL's official LinkedIn profile and IHC's acquisition statement. Credit rating from PACRA's rating action dated June 24, 2026.

What Is FWBL's History and Mandate?

First women bank was established as a public limited company under the 1984 Companies Ordinance, and began operations on December 2, 1989, with Rs. 100 million in paid-up capital — roughly 90% of it contributed across various proportions by National Bank of Pakistan, Habib Bank, MCB Bank, United Bank, and Allied Bank. The Ministry of Finance later came to hold the largest single stake, at over 80%, making FWBL a semi-government institution for most of its history.

The bank's charter is distinctive: unlike ordinary commercial banks, FWBL is legally directed to conduct its business in a way designed to meet the special banking, credit, and enterprise-development needs of women, while still serving men and families across all its products. FWBL has described its model as the first of its kind in the world, later replicated by Tanzania and India.

Founding details confirmed from FWBL's official About Us page and independent profiles including Pakpedia and Wikipedia.

Ownership: Who Owns First Women Bank Now?

First women bank ownership change is one of the most-searched facts about the bank, and for good reason. On October 16, 2025, Pakistan's federal cabinet approved the sale of its 82.64% stake in FWBL to International Holding Company (IHC), the UAE's largest listed company, chaired by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan. The deal was signed on October 17, 2025 in the presence of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, valued at roughly $14.6 million (Rs. 4.1 billion), and structured under Pakistan's Inter-Governmental Commercial Transactions Act of 2022 — the first bank privatization ever conducted under that law.

Ownership formally transferred to EVE Holding RSC Limited, IHC's nominated UAE entity, on April 15, 2026. IHC has stated it intends to acquire the remaining minority stake, recapitalize FWBL to meet the State Bank's minimum capital requirement, and expand the branch network from 42 toward roughly 200 branches over the medium term, alongside a full core-banking modernization.

Ownership and transaction details confirmed from IHC's official acquisition statement, Arab News, The National, and PACRA's June 2026 rating action report.

Who Leads First Women Bank?

Leadership details confirmed from FWBL's official Our Team page and LinkedIn profile of Farrukh Iqbal Khan.

Good For

• Researching FWBL's ownership, privatization timeline, and credit rating before opening an account
• Understanding how the 2025-26 IHC deal changes FWBL's ownership structure
• Confirming FWBL's founding mandate and how it differs from other Pakistani banks
• Getting a fast, sourced answer instead of a marketing summary

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More on First Women Bank

For independent verification, see State Bank of Pakistan, PACRA, First Women Bank Ltd..