Bank of Baroda to shut Hong Kong branch, Thailand office

Hit by resource crunch, especially capital, many public sector banks are reviewing their international operations

Bank of Baroda (BoB) is scaling down its overseas presence as part of a rationalisation process. It is planning to shut down a branch in Hong Kong and a representative office in Thailand.

A senior bank executive said as Hong Kong was the financial hub of Asia it remained a key business centre for the bank and it would continue to strengthen its presence with the remaining branch.

BoB started its Hong Kong operations as a joint venture (JV) or deposit-taking company named IBU International Finance, with two other banks on August 18, 1980. In 1999, it took over the