March has always been a hectic month for bankers with the end of financial year. But this year, it has been special as other than the normal activities, some additional actions also took place in the banking sector.
Swiss Bank, Credit Suisse obtained a banking license from the RBI in this month. Citigroup has officially announced the appointment of Pramit Jhaveri as Citi country officer to head its business in India.
ANZ bank also took away earlier Citibank India chief Mark Robinson as chief executive officer for South and South East Asia.
ANZ bank obtained a license to restart its banking operations in India on 3rd March. The bank had to wait for a 10 long years to re-enter the country after it left due to its participation in the notorious Harshad Mehta Scam.
Credit Suisse is targeting Mumbai as the center for its first Indian branch. It made a statement saying that the banking license would work along with the non banking financial company that the bank runs in the country called Credit Suisse Finance (India).
With RBI giving 2 new banking licenses in a single month, it is clear that the country is once again opening up for foreign banking operations. UBS, First Rand Bank, Commonwealth Bank of Australia and ANZ all recommend the step taken by RBI. Singapore’s UOB also obtained a bank license besides DBS receiving license from RBI to open 8 new branches in India.