Dubai bank Emirates NBD begins operations in India

The lender has opened its first Indian branch in the city of Mumbai

November 8, 2017

Dubai’s biggest bank Emirates NBD has started operations in India with the opening of its first branch in the city of Mumbai.

The Mumbai branch, located in Maker Maxity, Bandra Kurla Complex, marks the bank’s fifth international branch outside of its UAE network.

The branch will offer services to corporate, SME and institutional clients including trade finance, treasury services, bilateral and syndicated loans and will also support NRI (non-resident Indian) customers looking for cross-border wealth management solutions.

Emirates NBD’s India operations will be headed by Sharad Agarwal, who has been with the group for 12 years.

The lender has invested $100m in capital towards Indian operations, it said in a statement.

Shayne Nelson, group CEO of Emirates NBD said: “We are delighted to expand our footprint to India, building on the UAE’s strong historic, cultural and commercial ties with the country.

“India represents an important and strategic growth market. Emirates NBD is the only UAE-based bank with physical presence across all of India’s important trade corridors from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) across to Asia and the United Kingdom and our aim is to be the bank of choice for Indian corporates and individuals looking to invest and do business in the MENA region.”

Indians constitute the largest expatriate community in UAE and a third of Emirates NBD’s customer base is from India.

The bank’s 60 second online funds transfer service to India, DirectRemit, has facilitated nearly a billion dirhams of NRI remittance flows this year, the statement said.

Emirates NBD offers NRI clients personal loans against NRE fixed deposits in its Indian partner banks and has a NRI private banking division and a dedicated NRI desk in its London branch.

Last year, the bank also partnered with India’s ICICI bank on a pilot project to use blockchain technology for global remittances and trade finance.

Also read: Dubai bank Emirates NBD’s Q3 profit rises 37%

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