The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has finally cleared the licence for Swiss bank, UBS AG, which, going by assets, is Europe?s biggest bank. The bank?s licence application was kept in abeyance pending certain clarifications the RBI sought from it.
?It was on hold because of some transactions which had to be clarified,? said RBI?s deputy governor, V Leeladhar. Talking to reporters on the sidelines of a function to mark the unveiling of 2001st CBS branch of Union Bank of India (UBI) on Monday, V Leeladhar said: ?Now, they have been permitted to go ahead and open their branch?.
In the meantime, another multinational bank, the Singapore-based DBS is also likely to get the formal nod to set up operations in India. Leeladhar said, ?The approval for the branch licence of DBS has entered its final stage of discussion at RBI?.
On the compliance of Basle II norms by banks, Leeladhar expressed satisfaction and said: ?They are on track to meet the guidelines?. Those banks having their presence abroad have to comply with the Basle II norms by March 2008, while the deadline for the remaining banks is by March 2009.
Commenting on the cheque truncation process, which came in live in the NCR on February 1, Leeladhar said that 6,000 cheques worth at Rs 16-17 crore were being handled under the new system per day. Talking about the newly enacted Payment and Settlement Act, Leeladhar said, ?It will provide a lot of protection to bank payments and will bring many those credit card companies under the purview of RBI?. He asked banks to provide the facility of multi-city chequebook facility for each and every customer of theirs.
