India’s second largest bank, ICICI Bank, plans to seek a licence to operate from the Qatar Financial Centre from which it will target high n...

India’s second largest bank, ICICI Bank, plans to seek a licence to operate from the Qatar Financial Centre from which it will target high net worth individuals, according to reports in the local media. “We have already made an application with the Reserve Bank of India for the go-ahead to operate out of the QFC. If we get RBI’s green signal, we will approach QFC for the licence,” ICICI Bank joint managing director Kalpana Morparia told Gulf Times. ICICI expects to hire up to 40,000 people a year for the next three to five years to service future growth in India’s burgeoning banking and insurance sectors, and currently employs about 150,000 staff. Last month Barclays was granted a banking licence by the Qatar Financial Centre Regulatory Authority to operate from the Qatar Financial Centre. Initially the licence only covers Barclays Capital, but the UK-based bank is applying to extend this to cover Barclays Wealth along with its retail and commercial arms.