BNP Paribas exits from board of Geojit Financial Services

Moneycontrol BureauGeojit Financial Services today announced that BNP Paribas will be exiting its board owing to the latter’s 100 percent acquisition in broking firm Sharekhan last November."BNP has exited from the company’s board or management level in order to avoid any conflict of interest but will continue to remain in the company as a financial investor," said AP Kurian, Chairman of the company, at a press conference here today.Subsequently, the company will be renamed Geojit Financial Services, in line with the restated shareholder agreement between Geojit and BNP Paribas.The French multinational bank will continue to be a prominent shareholder along with Kerala State Industrial Development Corp and ace investor Rakesh Jhunjunwala.As on December 31, BNP Paribas held 32.59 percent stake in Geojit. BNP became the single largest shareholder in the company when it acquired 27.18 percent stake in the company in 2007.Speaking on future plans, Managing Director of Geojit, CJ George said, "Geojit will soon be launching new divisions of wealth management and financial planning. In addition, in the digital space, we are working on upgrading our trading app and mobile app with new trading tools and content enhancement features.The company intends to hire 1,000 employees in the next 5 years. At present, Geojit has a presence across India and Gulf countries with 511 offices that cater to over 8.5 lakh clients and has assets under management worth Rs 29,000 crore.