YES Bank opens international office at Abu Dhabi

Private sector lender Yes Bank on Sunday launched a representative office in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), marking the start of its international operations.

Located in Abu Dhabi, the bank will provide services for investment needs of the Indian diaspora in the Gulf city, YES Bank said in a release.

Yes Bank said the new office will offer NRE and NRO savings account and deposits, foreign currency fixed deposit, portfolio investment scheme to transact in the Indian secondary market and also its wealth management products.

''The GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) region is an important geography for our NRI business and our Gulf foray will play a key role in our aspiration to become the 'Savings Bank of India','' Rana Kapoor, founder, managing director and CEO of YES Bank, said.

The opening of the first international office showcases the company's commitment to grow its footprint in the international banking space, he added.

Almost all major banks in India have presence in the West Asia Gulf region, mostly serving the diaspora and trade.

The 12-year-old Yes Bank had last week announced plans to open a branch at the international finance centre at GIFT City Ahmedabad, which is treated as an international branch.

The board of Yes Bank had, last week, approved a management proposal to increase FII/FPI limit in the bank to a maximum 74 per cent of its paid-up share capital.

The board also considered the announcements made in the union budget for 2015–2016 that distinction between different types of foreign investments, especially between foreign portfolio investments and foreign direct investments to be done away with and replaced with composite cap. The amendments to applicable laws and the increased applicable cap for investment by FPIs/FIIs notification is still awaited.

Accordingly, the board approved the proposal to seek the enabling approval of the shareholders, so as to enable the bank to avail of substantial foreign ownership benefits up to of the increased limit of 74 per cent.