ANZ is poised to make a return to the Indian market after the Reserve Bank of India issued in-principle approval for a banking licence.
The move will allow ANZ to establish a bank branch in the Indian city of Mumbai as well as offer a range of retail and wholesale banking services. Pending on final approval from the Reserve Bank of India, ANZ expects to establish its first branch in the next 12 months.
The licence is set to open a new front to the ambitious Asian expansion headed by the ANZ group chief executive, Mike Smith. The bank has been waiting more than a year for approval to enter the fast-growing Indian market.
"This is an important step for ANZ as part of a long term commitment to progressively rebuild our presence in India," said ANZ's Asia Pacific boss Alex Thursby.
BusinessDay last month reported that several Indian government departments had recommended to the nation's central bank that ANZ be issued with a foreign banking licence.
Last year, ANZ took part in talks regarding possible acquisition of 30 Royal Bank of Scotland branches in India but pulled out of the running for the branches.
ANZ has a mixed history in the Indian market through its previous ownership of Grindlays, which it sold to Standard Chartered in 2000. Grindlays later became involved in a long-running legal action after being caught up in a fraudulent cheque scam. ANZ was eventually hit with more than $280 million in losses as a result of the action.
ANZ owns a technology services business in Bangalore, which provides back office support for the bank's Australian and New Zealand operations. In India, like other parts of Asia, ANZ is hoping to sell retail banking services to the nation's booming middle class.
ejohnston@theage.com.au
The Age
