Business Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Tuesday, Feb 19, 2008
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version
Business Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Tuesday, Feb 19, 2008 ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version |
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Money & Banking
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Foreign Banks UBS gets RBI nod to set up branch in India
The RBI had asked for certain clarifications from the bank on certain fund transactions, which it has received. The central bank is in final phase of talks for granting banking licence to Singapore based DBS Bank in India. Our Bureau Mumbai, Feb. 18 The Reserve Bank of India has cleared the branch licence of Swiss bank UBS AG, which was put on hold following investigations into certain fund transactions, a senior RBI official said today. “We have cleared it, they (UBS) can now go ahead and set up a branch,” said the RBI Deputy Governor, Mr V. Leeladhar, here today. He said the RBI had asked for certain clarifications from the bank on certain transactions, which it has received. According to news reports, the UBS’ licence, which was cleared last year was later put on hold, as the Swiss bank was reluctant to co-operate with the Government in connection with certain alleged money laundering by the Pune-based businessman Mr Ali Khan. The businessman reportedly held large cash in one of the UBS branch in Switzerland. The outcome of the investigations is not known. UBS officials could not be contacted for comment. A source said that this is the first branch licence for UBS in India and the bank is all set to start its banking operations here. The bank has a representative office that would be upgraded to a branch. Earlier, UBS could not get the Reserve Bank of India clearance for buying Standard Chartered Bank’s mutual fund business in India. UBS had signed the deal in January 2007 for buying the assets management business for $118.2 million, subject to regulatory approval. The deal was called off after nearly a year in December 2007 as it could not get RBI approval. UBS is currently present in India through UBS Securities Pvt Ltd, a broking and investment outfit. It also has a private wealth management business. In 2005, capital market regulator SEBI, following an investigation into shares deals, had also prevented UBS Securities from issuing Participatory Notes, for a year. The case is now pending in the Supreme Court. Mr Leeladhar was speaking to reporters after inaugurating the Union Bank’s 2,001st branch under the core banking solutions. He said RBI is also in the final phase of discussion on granting a banking licence to the Singapore-based DBS Bank in India. More Stories on : Foreign Banks | Financial Policy
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