Yes Bank gets Sebi nod for custodian of securities business

Yes Bank today said it has received approval from market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) for acting as custodian of securities.

Custodian of securities is a licence granted by Sebi to eligible entities allowing them to offer custodial services to financial market participants including foreign institutional investors (FIIs) and foreign portfolio investors (FPIs).

This will complement the bank's existing capital market offerings and enable it to play a larger role in channelising domestic and foreign investments into Indian financial market, Yes Bank said in a statement.

The bank has leveraged its global reach through its international banking team, IFSC banking unit in GIFT City and its representative office in Abu Dhabi as a part of its strategy.

"In line with the same, we are already providing banking services to more than 25 FPIs currently through our capital markets team," Yes Bank managing director Rana Kapoor said.

The bank will also be opening representative offices in London and Singapore as per recent approval from the Reserve Bank of India.

The custody business will allow the bank to comprehensively service the FPIs, alternative investment funds (AIFs) and portfolio management service (PMS) firms, as more and more investors look to participate in this exponential growth phase of the country.