Beena Parmar
Moneycontrol News
Mauritius-based SBM Bank has appointed Sidharth Rath, a former Axis Bank senior executive, to head its India operations.
“Sidharth Rath has taken over as the MD & CEO of SBM Bank (India) Limited pursuant to the approval received from the Reserve Bank of India.
“SBM Bank became the first foreign bank to be granted license from the RBI under the wholly-owned subsidiary scheme to provide universal banking service with a focus on wholesale banking, trade finance, capital market and retail banking,” the bank said in a statement.
The licence was granted to start business operations in India as a scheduled commercial bank under the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 with effect from December 1, 2018.
Rath has spent 17 years with India’s third-largest private sector lender across various roles and verticals and more than 26 years of industry experience.
Before Axis Bank, Rath spent close to a decade at IFCI , formerly known as Industrial Finance Corporation of India.
Rath has a bachelor’s degree in commerce and a master’s in business from Xavier Institute of Management, and last served Axis Bank as the head of corporate and transaction before resigning in March this year.
About SBM Bank
At present, SBM Bank has a total of four branches across Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad and Ramachandrapuram.
It caters to clients from India and East Africa, besides having a base in Mauritius. SBM offers products and services such as deposits, advances, NRI (non-resident Indian) services, treasury products and trade finance.
The bank aims to revamp its customer base and offerings in line with its growth strategy. Its branch network under SBM will migrate to SBM Bank India from December.
SBM Holdings Ltd is the third-largest entity by market capitalisation in Mauritius. The holding company has a presence in Mauritius, Kenya, India and Madagascar.
In May 2017, SBM had agreed to acquire Fidelity Commercial Bank to enter the Kenya market and concluded the acquisition in August this year.
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