DnB NOR opens a representative office in Mumbai

DnB NOR today officially opened a representative office in Mumbai, the first such office for the bank on the Indian sub-continent.

The office was formally opened by Mr Rune Bjerke, group chief executive of DnB NOR ASA, at a ceremony attended by the Norwegian Ambassador to India, Her Excellency Ms Ann Ollestad.

Mr Bjerke said today: “We are truly excited about our new office in Mumbai and it underlines DnB NOR’s commitment to this exciting marketplace.

“Opening this office in the present economic climate underscores more than ever our recognition of the importance of India to DnB NOR's future in this region and our commitment to building our presence in Asia in the long term.”

Mr Bjerke noted that DnB NOR has a long international tradition as a global niche player and has for decades demonstrated  international success in the industries in which it specialised which were built on unique Norwegian industry competence: shipping, energy and seafood.

Within global industries such as shipping DnB NOR has extensive products and concepts that could be exported, as well as a willingness to develop products in cooperation with clients, he said.

He added: “DnB NOR has been fortunate to have some strong links with the Indian ship owning community. We recognise that India has some excellent ship owning companies and with access to seafarers, local ship yards and not least export/ import cargo, we expect the Indian shipping industry to grow.”

The office in Mumbai will primarily serve clients within the shipping and energy sectors as well as Norwegian companies in India. DnB NOR already serves Indian-based companies within shipping, offshore, logistics and energy. An increasing number of Norwegian companies have established themselves in India and making investments in DnB NOR's core competence areas.

The Mumbai representative office will complement DnB NOR’s Singapore and Shanghai operations and add a third, vital leg to deepen the bank's risk assessment and credit expertise to serve entire Asia region.

The bank’s representative office in Mumbai is headed by Mr Derick Dias, a senior representative from India’s corporate banking sector, who has been appointed Chief Representative Officer.

About DnB NOR ASA
DnB NOR is Norway’s largest financial services group with total combined assets of NOK 2 000 billion. The Group consists of strong brands such as DnB NOR, Vital, Nordlandsbanken, Cresco, Postbanken, DnB NORD and Carlson.

Norway’s leading financial services group.

• More than 2.3 million retail customers
• More than 200 000 corporate customers
• Norway’s largest Internet banks, dnbnor.no and postbanken.no, with more than 1.4 million users
• Represented in more than 200 locations in Norway
• 800 in-store banking outlets
• Norway’s largest life and pension insurance company with around 1 million customers
• Norway's most extensive distribution network for financial services
• Norway’s largest asset management operation with more than 630 000 mutual fund customers in Norway and 294 institutional clients in Norway and Sweden
• Norway’s largest capital markets operation
• Norway’s leading real estate broker
• 13 800 employees 

… and the most international

• Partner for Norwegian companies abroad and for large international companies in Norway
• International network of 18 branches and representative offices
• One of the world’s foremost shipping banks
• Norway’s leading foreign exchange bank
• Operations in Sweden within banking, asset management, insurance, car financing, real estate broking through Svensk Fastighetsförmedling and distribution of financial products through SalusAnsvar 
• A major international player in the energy sector
• Operations in Poland and the Baltic states  through DnB NORD
• Presence in north-West Russia through DnB NOR Monchebank
• Private banking in Luxembourg.