Compliance
Singapore Regulator Grants QFB Status To Indian Bank
The
Monetary Authority of Singapore has granted a qualified full
banking status to India's
ICICI Bank.
The mandate allows ICICI to offer retail banking services in the
city-state. It is second Indian entity to acquire such an
authorisation from MAS since the State Bank of India was given
the same two years ago. It complements the existing partnership
between the two countries which opens up their financial sectors
to each other. Conversely, Indian regulators gave Singapore bank
DBS the licence to open eight branches in the South Asian country
recently.
"In the near term, the bank will focus on increasing its presence
in the corporate, commercial, wealth management, and direct
banking businesses both in Singapore and the rest of the ASEAN by
capitalising on the strong trade and investment flows with
India," ICICI said in a statement.
ICICI's Singapore branch is its first outside of India and
employs around 50 staff.
