Mauritius' SBM gets RBI approval to merge operations with its Indian subsidiary

The Reserve Bank of India Saturday said it has approved merger of SBM (Mauritius), India with SBM Bank (India).

"The Reserve Bank of India has sanctioned the Scheme of amalgamation of the entire undertaking of SBM Bank (Mauritius) Limited, India with SBM Bank (India) Limited which has been granted licence by the Reserve Bank to carry on the business of banking in India through Wholly Owned Subsidiary (WOS) mode under the Banking Regulation Act," RBI said in a release.

The scheme will come into force with effect from December 01, 2018, it said further.

All the branches of SBM Bank (Mauritius) Limited in India will function as branches of SBM Bank (India) Limited with effect from December 01, 2018, the RBI said.

Earlier on November 21, State Bank of Mauritius, which has received a licence as a scheduled commercial bank in India, appointed Sidharth Rath as managing director.

SBM Bank is the first foreign bank to set up a wholly owned subsidiary (WOS), to provide universal banking service with a focus on wholesale banking, trade finance, capital market and retail banking.

Following the approval, the SBM Bank (India) Limited will start operation as scheduled commercial bank under the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 with effect from December 1, 2018, it had said.