Fedaral Bank is looking to open an offshore branch in Dubai and also a representative office in the current financial year. It has sought the Reserve Bank of India’s permission for the same, executive director Abraham Chacko told FE.
?We plan to have presence in three international locations by 2015, not as NRI bank, but as a branch. So our first move is in Dubai, by setting up an offshore bank centre,? Chacko said. ?We will certainly do initial marketing trips to certain centres like Singapore,? he added.
The bank currently has a representative office in Abu Dhabi and will soon open another one in Dubai. The Abu Dhabi office has around 20 field officers as staff, he said. Chacko said the bank will expand its overseas business and is mulling setting up branches in Singapore and Hong Kong.
The bank will leverage on its strong non-resident Indian customer base to garner business in the UAE, Chacko said. The offshore bank branch of Dubai will primarily cater to Federal Bank’s Indian customers and expats. It would not be dealing in dirhams, he said.
?As early as possible, we would like to have the nod of RBI,? Chacko said. The representative office in Abu Dhabi is instrumental in shoring up the bank?s NRI deposits, he said. Federal Bank’s outstanding NRI deposits are currently R13,000 crore and the bank has seen phenomenal growth in these deposits, Chacko said.
The bank is aiming for a 50% growth in its NRI deposits and has a target of 22% growth in overall deposits. As on March 31, the bank’s outstanding deposits were rs 48,937 crore.
