The Hindu Business Line : City Union Bank looking to improve capital base

Expansion plans
The bank has raised about Rs 30 crore under Tier II capital so far and has options to raise another Rs 130 crore
It is also on a recruitment drive with intentions to increase its manpower from its current 600

Coimbatore , July 16

The Kumbakonam headquartered City Union Bank (CUB) is looking at options to improve its capital base.

The bank is expected to announce the details of this proposed option soon, its Chairman and CEO, Mr S. Balasubramanian, told Business Line.

The bank is considering expanding its capital base to prepare itself to meet the Basel II norms requirement. "Our networth at around Rs 295-plus crore is just short of the requirement. We have raised about Rs 30 crore under Tier II capital this far and have options to raise another Rs 130 crore," was all he said when asked about the proposed route.

According to him, CUB would, at this juncture need two vital pills to strengthen itself. "We have to put our human resources management policy in place besides keeping a tag on checks and balances," he said.

Intensive recruitment

To keep pace with the technological developments, the bank besides investing heavily in technology is also recruiting and training people. "We were lull on recruitment between 1995 and 2005. Last year, we brought into our rolls 200 people and they included clerical staff, officers— both specialised and regular apart from professionals like the graduates from business schools and cost and works accountants. Our present manpower is 1,600. We intend to absorb some more for marketing of insurance and mutual funds products and DP," he said, without specifying how many.

The bank recently appointed Integrated Enterprises as its business facilitator for procuring business deposits. "We are also using this association to get PAN cards for customers and enable e-filing of IT returns. Such services may not give us great returns, but we are keen to provide more value-added services," Mr Balasubramanian said.