New Indian bank to set up in NZ

Bank of Baroda, the third-largest public sector bank in India, has been given the all-clear by the Reserve Bank to begin trading in New Zealand, marking it as the nation's 19th registered bank.

The Mumbai-based lender first indicated a desire to enter New Zealand when then-chairman Anil Kumar Khandelwel visited the country in 2007. Its registration was confirmed by the central bank today, and Baroda will probably open its first branch in Auckland's Mt Roskill, according to Indian Newslink.

The bank's local operation is expected to begin near the end of the year, and is expected to target all ethnic communities, not only Indian residents.

Bank of Baroda is in some 70 countries, including offices in Australia and Fiji, and is looking to continue expanding its international operations with a joint venture to open a banking company in Malaysia, according to its latest earnings report. Overseas business contributed some 23 per cent to the bank's operating profit.

The parent company boosted its net profit some 85 per cent in the three months ended June 30 from the same period a year earlier.

Bank of Baroda New Zealand was incorporated on May 27 last year, and Satish Chander Vermani, who has headed the bank's representative office in Sydney since 2007, is managing director.

He will be joined on the board by Mangalore Devadas Mallya in India, and New Zealanders Rajen Prasad and Vijaya Vaidyanath, according to a filing the Companies Office.

-BUSINESSWIRE