The Hindu Business Line : Bank of Baroda to soon finalise joint venture partners

Bank of Baroda (BoB) proposes to finalise three joint venture partners by the end of this financial year for the credit card, asset management and the life insurance business.

Briefing reporters here on Saturday, the BoB Chairman and Managing Director, Mr Anil Khandelwal said, "All of these partners will be internationally renowned global companies." He declined to specify any names, saying that negotiations were still underway with the partners.

He said that the bank had sufficient capital to meet its commitments in each of these joint ventures. However, if necessary, the bank was in a position to raise additional capital through tier two borrowings or through hybrid capital either in the domestic or in the international markets.

Over the next two months, he said BoB would raise about Rs 1,000 crore by way of tier two capital. Tier two capital consists of borrowings of tenures in excess of five years. The bank, he said, intended to maintain a capital to risk weighted asset ratio of 12 per cent at any point of time, well above the regulatory stipulation of 9 per cent, he said.

More branches

The bank has received the Reserve Bank of India's permission to open second office in Johannesburg, South Africa, he said. The Bank has also sought permission from the Chinese Banking Regulator to upgrade its representative office in Guangzhou.

BoB, he said, plans to open one more representative office in China to meet the growing trade finance requirements of India in the region. They had also received approval for opening branches in Australia, Qatar, Bahrain, West Indies (Trinidad & Tobago) and Ghana.

Currently, the bank has 60 international offices. In addition, the bank also plans to step up its presence in southern India from the current level of 265 branches to 300 branches. These include dedicated SME branches in Tiruppur and Chennai, he added.

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