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SBI to Expand UAE Operations

DUBAI - India’s largest bank, State Bank of India (SBI), on Wednesday said its group companies — SBI Mutual Fund and SBI Life — would soon launch operations in the UAE.

“While SBI Mutaul Fund is in the final stages of obtaining a licence from the UAE Central Bank for opening a representative office, SBI Life is about to file its application with the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) for opening a representative office in Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC),” said A.J. Vidyasagar, chief executive officer of SBI’s operations at DIFC.

He said SBI’s commercial operations from the DIFC had got into a full swing with the bank beginning to accept non-dirham deposits.

Vidyasagar said under a Category 1 licence issued by the DFSA, it could accept only non-dirham deposits from non-UAE corporates and professional clients.

He said SBI group, which has a network of 17,000 branches across the globe, would be opening its Jeddah branch soon.

In the Gulf, SBI also operates two branches in Bahrain, one branch in Oman, representative offices in Teheran and Cairo.

In the Gulf, SBI has tied up with various exchange companies including Emirates India International Exchange, Al Rostamani Exchange, Wall Street Exchange, Al Ansari Exchange, Al Fardan Exchange, Al Ahalia Exchange, Citi Exchange and UAE Exchange enable customers to remit funds to their accounts with SBI in India.

Speaking to reporters, Vidyasagar said customer confidence in SBI rose when the bank came out with excellent results for the quarter ended December 2008 amid the global financial crisis.

The profit of the group, comprising several subsidiary banks and other financial operations, surged 52 per cent to Rs36.08 billion while non-per performing assets declined from 1.44 per cent to 1.36 per cent.

· issacjohn@khaleejtimes.com