Centurion Bank Sets Up Panels On Governance

Centurion Bank has formed three committees - a governance committee, a sub-committee of directors and a committee of major stakeholders. With an independent director as its chairman, the governance committee will lay down guidelines relating to the corporate functioning of the bank, the subcommittee of directors will monitor management and recovery of non-performing assets and the stakeholders' committee will provide adequate inputs and benefits to the bank. The aim is improving the performance and achieving best standards prevailing in the banking industry.

This apart, to meet the overall objective of improving its performance, the bank would take steps to strengthen its capital base in the near future. Centurion Bank introduced a risk management system for corporate credit and installed appropriate software for the purpose. The bank is also setting up a risk management system in its treasury operations including asset, liability management.

 

In 1999-2000, Centurion Bank's deposit base increased by 80 per cent, while the cost of deposit came down from 10.8 per cent to 10 per cent. The bank made a substantial foray into advances in the capital markets. Its investment portfolio increased by over 200 per cent.

Significantly, the bank launched interest rate swaps and signed agreements with the MasterCard system last year. With 35 branches, 11 administrative and 34 marketing offices, Centurion Bank has a network of 41 ATMs - 28 branch sites and 13 offsite. The bank has its presence in 49 centres.