UBI gets breather on board composition

Public sector lender United Bank of India (UBI) has been exempted by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) from appointing independent directors before the initial public offering (IPO) on a request from the government.

The bank, which is planning to come up with an IPO of 50 million equity shares of face value of Rs 10 each, needs to appoint three more independent directors to comply with the listing norms of Sebi.

Two government-appointed independent directors and one shareholders’ representative would join the board by June, said Executive Director TM Bhasin at a press conference here today.

“The government had written a letter to Sebi, explaining that it might take some more time before the quota of independent directors was filled. It has given an undertaking to keep them informed about their appoint. We have to recruit two more directors and one shareholders’ representative on the board,” said Bhasin.

Of the seven directors on the bank’s board, only two are independent, against the norm of 50 per cent of the board strength.

The bank recently opened a representative office in Bangladesh and plans to upgrade it into a branch in the next six months. It is also vetting a proposal to open trade offices in Hong Kong, Dubai and Singapore by 2011.