Oriental Bk keen to enter life insurance biz

K N Prithviraj, chairman and manging director of Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC), today said the bank is keen to enter the life insurance business and is looking for joint venture partners.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the banking conclave here, Prithviraj said a final decision would be taken within the next 6-12 months adding the matter was still being discussed.

Speaking about the merger with Global Trust Bank (GTB), he said the bank's accumulated losses of Rs 1,200 crore were being amortised over a period of five years.

Prithviraj said that Rs 480 crore had already been amortised while the rest would be done in the remaining three years.

After clocking a business of Rs 89,000 crore in the last financial year, OBC was now aiming at Rs 1 lakh crore mark in the current fiscal.