5 banks that have announced scaling down India ops recently

HSBC plans to wind down its P-notes business, FirstRand Bank to shut retail operations

In recent months, several top global banks have announced that they plan to curtailed or close some of their businesses in India. Business Standard lists five such instances from the past five months: 

HSBC to wind up P-note business in India 

20 October: HSBC is planning to wind up participatory notes (P-notes) operations in India, as tightening of regulatory framework has made the business unviable. P-notes’ attractiveness has been on the wane following tightening of the regulations and the recent double-taxation avoidance agreement (DTAA) with Mauritius. 

FirstRand Bank to shut retail, SME lending operations in India 

20 October: FirstRand Bank has decided to shut its retail and SME lending business in India, according to a Livemint report quoting a top management executive. The South African bank will, however, continue its operations in corporate lending and investment banking in the country. 

Citibank likely to shut down some India branches 

28 September: Citibank, the most profitable foreign lender in India, might follow rival Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corp (HSBC) and reduce its branches in the country. According to an Economic Times report, the move might follow amid falling footfalls in branches, as customers are increasingly shifting to the internet for daily banking transactions.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia shuts India ops 

30 August, 2016: Australia’s largest lender, Commonwealth Bank, has decided to wind down its operations in India. “After careful evaluation of our India business, alongside our refocused strategy, the decision has been made to wind down and close the CBA Mumbai branch,” said a note on the bank’s website.

RBS begins closure of retail branches in India

17 May: Royal Bank of Scotland, Britain’s largest state-owned bank, has started the process of closing its 10 retail branches in India. This move is in line with the company’s plans announced last year to shut down its banking operations in the country.