Business
Bank of India Shuts Down Unviable Jersey Branch
In accordance with the state bank leaders’ aim to rationalize and bring “clean and responsible banking” initiative, several banks like Andhra Bank, IDBI Bank, and Indian Overseas Bank have previously closed down Dubai operations.
India’s state-owned lender Bank of India (BoI) has shut down its branch in Jersey, Channel Islands, media reports say. The bank had earlier closed branches in Dubai, Botswana, and Yangon.
According to recent media reports, BoI said in a regulatory filing that the Jersey branch would cease operations from Oct. 18.
“This is to inform that Jersey Financial Services Commission (JFSC), Local Regulators Jersey, has allowed the closure of our Jersey branch with effect from October 18, 2018,” BoI was quoted as saying in a regulatory filing by PTI.
BoI has several overseas branches in cities like London, Birmingham, Paris, Leicester, Glasgow, Antwerp, and countries like the U.S., Belgium, Hong Kong, Indonesia, China, Japan, New Zealand, Uganda, West Indies, Kenya, and others.
In accordance with the state bank leaders’ aim to rationalize and bring “clean and responsible banking” initiative, several state-owned lenders like Andhra Bank, IDBI Bank, and Indian Overseas Bank have earlier closed their branches in Dubai. On the other hand, Punjab National Bank, Canara Bank and Union Bank of India have shut their Shanghai offices, news agency PTI reported.
Rajiv Kumar, Secretary, Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance, had tweeted on Mar. 1 that “Public sector banks to consolidate 35 overseas operations without affecting the international presence of PSBs in these countries; 69 operations identified for further examination. Move towards cost efficiencies and synergies in the overseas market,” Hindu Business Line reported.
To cut costs, BoI plans to rationalize its domestic and foreign branches and nine foreign branches/subsidiaries/representative offices have already been identified for closure, the publication reported.
According to reports, State Bank of India, India’s largest lender, has the highest number of overseas branches, followed by Bank of Baroda (50) and Bank of India (29). Moreover, according to BoI’s 2016-17 annual report, it had 29 branches, 4 representative offices, 5 subsidiaries and 1 associate/joint venture spread across 22 countries of all-time zones. The contribution of foreign operations in the bank’s global business mix was 24 percent, Hindu Business Line said.