Standard Chartered Bank Mauritius has received approval from the Reserve Bank of India to acquire a 49 per cent stake in UTI Securities, an Indian broking house, from Securities Trading Corporation of India. P R Somasundaram, currently StanChart's regional head of Strategic Initiatives, South Asia, is to be managing director of the brokerage. The bank, which first announced plans to acquire UTI Securities in February, plans to rebrand the firm to reflect its shareholding and to reposition the product offerings to the relevant customer segments. StanChart is also looking to make significant investments of up to $50 million to 2010 to make new hirings, upgrade technology and strengthen the distribution network, in addition to enhancing the capital base. "UTI Securities will form a critical part of Standard Chartered’s operations in India as it marks our entry into the equities trading space. It significantly enhances our offerings for our wholesale and consumer banking customers,” Mr Somasundaram said. With a presence in 60 major Indian cities, UTI Securities’ core businesses are retail and institutional broking, investment banking and distribution of investment products. Its online platform is also expanding. UTI Securities’ retail broking and distribution capacities offer transactional capabilities to Standard Chartered’s Private Banking and Wealth Management customers. StanChart has the option to acquire another 25 per cent in 2008, and the final 26 per cent in 2010, subject to further regulatory approvals.