Today's Edition
A. SREENIVASA REDDY (ABU DHABI)
Emirates NBD, a leading bank in the UAE, has received “in-principle” approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to establish a wholly owned subsidiary (WOS) in India.
The approval paves the way for the bank to transition from its current branch mode of operation to a locally incorporated entity, allowing it to scale up its presence and offerings in the Indian market.
At present, Emirates NBD operates in India through branches located in Mumbai, Chennai and Gurugram. This branch mode, while functional, imposes regulatory constraints that limit the bank’s ability to expand operations freely. The move to WOS mode will provide the bank with greater operational flexibility on par with Indian banks, enabling it to broaden its range of financial services and expand its branch network more efficiently.
“The bank will be permitted to commence operations under the WOS model once the RBI is satisfied that it has complied with the requisite conditions laid down as part of the ‘in-principle’ approval,” said Puneet Pancholy, Chief General Manager of the RBI, in a statement.
The transition forms part of Emirates NBD’s wider strategy to strengthen its footprint in India and to enhance its service offerings to both retail and corporate clients. Emirates NBD opened its first full-fledged branch in Mumbai in 2017, followed by approvals for branches in Chennai and Gurugram in 2021.
Indian expatriates comprise the largest community in the UAE, and over a third of Emirates NBD’s customer base consists of Indian expats, a previous statement from the bank said. The bank’s instant remittance platform, DirectRemit, has gained significant traction among this demographic, offering 60-second online fund transfers to India.
