Public sector home loan lender, Union Bank of India is planning to open a subsidiary in UK in order to ignite to its plans of foreign expansion.
M V Nair, chairman and MD of Union Bank said, “The bank already has a representative office in London. We want to upgrade our operations there. The subsidiary route is preferred over opening branches of the Indian entity”.
A bank official said, the rules for starting a branch in India are much more stricter as compared to opening an overseas branch.
Nair has added that the proposal for the purpose is under consideration by the board.
Many banks opt for the subsidiary way as a feasible and beneficial alternative for international business. PNB and ICICI Bank had also opted for this method to widen their presence in UK. State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda and Bank of India have branch network in UK.
Union Bank already has a branch in Hong Kong for the last 2 years. The bank opened offices in Sydney (Australia) and Beijing (China) in 2009-10, besides having its presence in Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates).