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Indian Bank plans to open a full-fledged branch in Hong Kong to tap the booming Sino-Indian trade and financial flows.
It has decided to approach the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for regulatory approval, said Mr T. M. Bhasin, Chairman and Managing Director, Indian Bank.
“Our strategy has always been to go to places where ethnic Tamil population are located. But we want to go to Hong Kong for purely commercial reasons. There is lot of activity (economic) happening between China and India.
“The same is true for Hong Kong and India. So Hong Kong operations can take care of our China business also”, Mr Bhasin told Business Line .
Currently, Indian Bank, a public sector lender, has no presence in China. Mr Bhasin said that the Board of Directors had at their recent meeting (few days back) given their nod for opening a branch in Hong Kong. “We are keen to offer both retail and corporate banking in Hong Kong”, he said.
Indian Bank is also in talks with the Indonesian Central Bank for opening a branch in that country. It had last year sought RBI approval for opening a branch in Indonesia. The RBI has allowed Indian Bank to enter into talks with the Indonesian Central Bank, Mr Bhasin said.
Last week, Indian Bank had announced plans to open three more branches in Sri Lanka at Trincomalee, Batticaloa and Hambantota.
Meanwhile, on plans for its foray into life insurance business, Mr Bhasin said that Indian Bank was looking to enter into an ownership alliance with existing player (life insurance) by leveraging the bank's branch network.
“We are looking at a model where our branch network can be used as contribution to capital”, Mr Bhasin said, adding that he expects the commercial operations of its life insurance business to take off in September 2011.
Short-listing consultants
Already, Indian Bank has made initial shortlist of six-to-seven global and Indian consultants to suggest the right approach for entry into life insurance and mutual funds. The short-listed consultants will start their presentations from April 28 and then a final selection of the consultant will be done, Mr Bhasin said.
Currently, Indian Bank is only a bancassurance partner to a private sector life insurance company. It is now looking at an ownership alliance that can use its brand identity in the manufacture and distribution of life insurance products.
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