The Hindu Business Line : Centurion Bank gets mandate for managing Bhutan's PF money

CENTURION Bank has been mandated to manage Bhutan's provident fund money, the first instance of the bank branching out to investment advisory services of this nature.

The bank, now led by a new set of investors, is expected to become consultants for what is being billed as a significant project. As advisor, however, it will not take the responsibility of assuring returns. Instead, it will work out a set of investment options for the PF organisation to follow.

Mr Jayanta Gupta, Regional Head (East) at Centurion Bank, said the present PF set-up is of fairly recent origin in Bhutan. The bank, which already has a lot of business interests in Bhutan, sees the latest project as one that can be leveraged for more opportunities.

"A good part of Bhutan's transaction business in the country is currently routed through us," he said, while emphasising on the bank's long-standing tie-ups with players such as Bank of Bhutan and Bhutan National Bank. According to one estimate, this accounts for around Rs 350 crore worth of transactions per annum.

Centurion Bank is now eyeing a bigger presence in the region, including an association with Nepal Rashtra Bank, the central banker in the Himalayan state, which, incidentally, has a large Indian currency surplus. Major opportunities, involving cross-border trading, are expected to develop in the region in future. The bank plans to set up a currency chest in Siliguri, West Bengal. It has already sought RBI's permission for the proposal.

On another front, Centurion Bank (along with State Bank of India and HDFC Bank) has tied up with Indian Navy for handling the latter's salary distribution and pension payment systems. The bank has branches in a number of coastal areas, including Goa (where it has its registered office), Vizag, Kochi and Kolkata; this is seen as an advantage for servicing Indian Navy personnel who are stationed in these centres, Mr Gupta observed.

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