Foreign Banks in India

Foreign banks have brought latest technology and latest banking practices in India. They have helped made Indian Banking system more competitive and efficient. Government has come up with a road map for expansion of foreign banks in India

The road map has two phases. During the first phase between March 2005 and March 2009, foreign banks may establish a presence by way of setting up a wholly owned subsidiary (WOS) or conversion of existing branches into a WOS. The second phase will commence in April 2009 after a review of the experience gained after due consultation with all the stake holders in the banking sector. The review would examine issues concerning extension of national treatment to WOS, dilution of stake and permitting mergers/acquisitions of any private sector banks in India by a foreign bank.

Major foreign banks in India are:

ABN-AMRO Bank
The history of ABN Amro Bank dates back to the year 1924, when King Williem � I issued a Royal Decree declaring the establishment of the Nederlandsche Handel-Maatschappij (Netherlands Trading Society, NTS). The NTS had been established with an aim to promote the trade between the Netherlands and the Dutch East Indies.

Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank Ltd.
Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB) is one of the most prominent nationalized banks of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Three different banks viz. the Khalij Commercial Bank, the Emirates Commercial Bank and the Federal Commercial Bank merged in the month of July 1985, leading to the incorporation of the Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank.

American Express Bank Ltd
With its headquarters located in New York, U.S., American Express company is a global financial services provider, also known as "AmEx" in short. American Express had been established in the year 1850, and is well known all around the world for its dedicated Credit Card, Traveller's Cheque and Charge Card services.

BNP Paribas
BNP Paribas is one of the oldest banks in the continent of Europe, and the largest bank in the Eurozone (consortium of countries having adopted Euro as their primary currency), as reported by The Banker magazine. The bank is present in 87 countries with a 162,700-strong workforce offering its services to the bank.

Citibank
Citibank is one of the largest banks in the U.S., and is a part of the financial services company Citigroup. Citibank had been founded in the year 1812. Initially its name was City Bank of New York, which was later changed to First National City Bank of New York.

DBS Bank Ltd
DBS Bank is a Singapore-based bank, and is known to be one of the largest banks to exist in South East Asian region by asset value. The government of Singapore established the DBS Bank in the year 1968, and it was primarily aimed at providing development oriented financial services.

Deutsche Bank
Deutsche Bank, headquartered at Frankfurt in Germany, ranks among the global leaders in corporate banking and securities, transaction banking, asset management, and private wealth management. It is one the world's leading international financial service providers with roughly EURO 2.2 trillion in assets and approximately 80,000 employees.

HSBC Ltd
HSBC Bank is a subsidiary of HSBC Holdings plc, a London based banking giant which, according to the Forbes magazine, is the largest banking group in the world, and the 6th largest company in the world as of April 2009.

Standard Chartered Bank
Standard Chartered Bank is a London based bank, currently operational within over 70 nations with more than 1,700 branches and 73,000 strong workforce as of April 2009. Although the bank is located in Britain, still a huge chunk of its revenues originate from the continents of Asia, Africa and Middle East.

Barclays Bank
Barclays GRCB India is led by Samir Bhatia as its Managing Director. In a short period of just two and a half years, Barclays GRCB India has placed itself amongst the most respected foreign banks in the country that is serving more than 830,000 clients.

Antwerp Diamond Bank, India
The Antwerp Diamond Bank is a small bank that specializes solely in delivering excellent services in the diamond and the diamond jewelry sector. The bank is ranked the second largest diamond bank worldwide, first being the ABN AMRO's International

Arab Bangladesh Bank, India
Arab Bangladesh Bank Limited is one of the leading private sector banks based in Bangladesh. It was instituted on December 31, 1981 and served as the very first private sector bank of the country. The bank commenced its functions from April 12, 1882.

Bank of America, India
Bank of America is one of the largest financial service companies in the world. It is the second largest bank in terms of market capitalization. Furthermore, it is the fifth largest company in the United States by total revenue, as well as the second largest non-oil company

Bank of Bahrain & Kuwait BSC, India
Bank of Bahrain and Kuwait (BBK) was established in Bahrain in March 1971 and provides a range of efficient and personalized banking facilities. The bank established its first overseas branch in Kuwait in 1978. In the span of few years, branches were

Bank of Ceylon, India
Bank of Ceylon, popularly abbreviated as BOC, is a government-owned, major commercial bank in Sri Lanka. It was established in 1939 with its head office located in iconic cylindrical building in the capital Colombo, the commercial capital of the island.

Bank of Nova Scotia
The Bank of Nova Scotia, famously known as Scotiabank, is counted amongst North America's leading financial establishments and also the most international of all the Canadian banks. It stands at the third position in the list of Canada's largest banks in terms

Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd, India
Japan's largest bank, the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd was founded on January 1, 2006 as a result of a merger between Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, Ltd. and UFJ Bank Ltd. Separately, the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi was established as Mitsubishi Bank, Ltd.

Chinatrust Commercial Bank Ltd
Chinatrust Commercial Bank Limited (CTCB) is amongst the biggest private banks in Taiwan, managed by the family of Koo Chen-Fu. It was founded in the year 1966, initially by the name of China Securities and Investment Corporation. Then in 1971,

Credit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank, India
Credit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank (Credit Agricole CIB formerly known as Calyon) is the entity of Credit Agricole's corporate and investment banking and was established in May 2004 by the transmit of assets and services from Credit Lyonnais'

J P Morgan Chase Bank, India
An American multinational banking corporation, J P Morgan Chase Bank has been a major provider of financial services and is one of the largest banks in the world. It is the largest bank in United States by sales, profits, assets and market value.

Mashreq Bank PSC, India
Mashreq is one of the leading financial institutions in UAE. It was founded in 1967 and has its headquarters situated in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Mashreq provides banking and financial services to millions of customers and businesses across the

Mizuho Corporate Bank Ltd, India
Mizuho Corporate Bank Ltd is one of the most trusted corporate and investment banking subsidiary of Mizuho Financial Group, which is the second largest Japanese financial service group. The bank was established in April 2002 as a result of the merger

Oman International Bank, India
Oman International Bank was established on January 1, 1984 as the first Sultanate's entirely-owned Omani commercial bank. Over the years, it has become one of the largest banks of Oman with a wide network of a large number of countries. Since the year

PT. Bank Internasional Indonesia Tbk, India
Pt. Bank Internasional Indonesia Tbk (BII) was founded on May 15, 1959. The bank post gaining a foreign exchange bank status in the year 1988 enrolled its shares on the Jakarta Stock Exchange and Indonesia Stock Exchange

Societe Generale
One of the oldest banks of France, Societe Generale is a prime European financial services company having a considerable international existence. Tours Societe Generale in the business district of La Defense, Nanterre, west of Paris, serves as its head office.

State Bank of Mauritius Ltd, India
State Bank of Mauritius (SBM) was established in 1973 and is the second largest bank in Mauritius. The bank has a market share of about 25% of domestic banking assets. State Bank of Mauritius has 42 domestic branches, and three branches

The Royal Bank of Scotland, India
The Royal Bank of Scotland was founded in 1727 and has a history of over three hundred years. With its rich history, it has become one of the largest financial service groups in the world. It provides banking services for individuals, corporate houses

UBS Bank, India
UBS AG is one of the leading Swiss international financial institutes having headquarters in Basel and Zurich, Switzerland. It was founded in 1854 and therefore, holds a 150 years old heritage. In the year 1998, it got merged with Swiss Bank

VTB Bank, India
VTB Bank, formerly known as Vneshtorgbank, is amongst the leading banks of Russia and the largest in terms of authorized capital. It is the government-owned international bank with a presence in 13 countries. VTB is the second largest bank in Russia

Sonali Bank, India
The largest bank of Bangladesh, Sonali Bank is a state-owned prime and leading commercial bank of the country with its corporate head quarter situated at Motijheel, Dhaka, Bangladesh. Shortly post Bangladesh got independence, Sonali Bank emanated