Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has big India plans following its global take over of ABN Amro. As reported by FE on September 17, RBS has appointed cricketer Sachin Tendulkar as its global brand ambassador.
Unveiling bank’s plans for India, John McCormick, chief executive, Global Banking & Markets, Asia Pacific, RBS said, “We have been working towards opening a branch in India.”
The bank has got huge plans to grow its advisory business mainly focused on mid-cap as well as the large-cap sized companies in India. He said RBS’s focus in the country would be to actively participate in inbound & outbound M&A deals as well as offer corporate debt, risk management, cash management, wealth management and international payment services to Indian entrepreneurs. “We have very large and SME mid-cap and large-cap and wholesale banking activities, including M&A and risk management. We have got strong wealth management business and the acquisition of ABN Amro will help us expand here,” he said. “India for us represents the third largest concentration of staff members in the RBS Group. With the buyout of ABN Amro, we have suddenly become a very large international bank. We are keen to develop our business here,” he added. The bank has extensive operations in Mumbai, Delhi and Chennai and plans to be a major competitor in the marketplace here.
“We look to provide liquidity domestically in the rupee market. We also look to leverage our skills and capabilities, including global distribution from North America, Europe and throughout the Asia-Pacific,” McCormick said.
“The financial markets across the globe are extremely volatile at this point of time and we are thus waiting for the dust to settle before taking a final decision on infusing more funds into our Indian operations,” he said.
He added that there were some interesting opportunities for acquisitions across the world with a depressed equity markets at the moment. Those companies, which have cash and those, can raise cash or debts can go for acquisitions, he said. “Our M&A participation in India is thus expected to get a fillip,” said McCormick.
John Baines, chief executive, wealth management division with RBS, said, “Currently, the wholesale banking in Asia constitutes 8-10% of our global revenues from this segment. We are expecting a boost in the range of 15% from Asia in this fiscal. We are also looking at leveraging and expand our footprint in India through our NBFC business. We are in discussion with the RBI on different product lines for the business.”
On re-branding ABN Amro in India, Baines said his bank is in constant talks with the Indian regulator on the issue. The management expects to complete the brand change of ABN Amro to RBS in India by the end of December 2008. “Also, as we are entering 2009, the year of consolidation, we will try and keep our opportunities open,” said Baines.
Asked about the transformation of ABM Amro to RBS, McCormick said, “The integration is going better than we expected. We are happy with that. We would like to move faster and looking forward to rolling-out the RBS brand here.”
“RBS has a presence in India since 2002. We recognize the significant growth potential in India and are working closely with Indian regulators to integrate the ABN Amro businesses we acquired,” he said.
