PNB identifies five countries for possible foray

Banking major Punjab National Bank (PNB) is looking to further expand its overseas presence and has identified at least five countries for possible entry in the coming days.

Maldives, Singapore, Brazil, South Africa and Bangladesh are the five countries that the bank has identified for overseas foray, Mr K. R. Kamath, Chairman and Managing Director, PNB, told Business Line here.

“Our board has cleared the bank's entry into Maldives. We are also looking at Singapore and Bangladesh. Surveys have also been done for countries like South Africa and Brazil,” Mr Kamath said.

He also said that the bank would be interested in converting its representative office in Sydney into a branch or a subsidiary. PNB had in September last opened a representative office in Sydney, which was the tenth overseas destination for the bank.

PNB has already received regulatory approval from the Reserve Bank of India for opening a subsidiary in Canada. It is still awaiting the nod of Canadian regulatory authorities for opening a subsidiary in that country.

The bank has subsidiaries in London and Bhutan, besides many branches in Dubai, Hong Kong and Kabul. It also has a joint venture in Nepal.

krsrivats@thehindu.co.in