25 January 2001

Global Trust Bank and UTI Bank merge to form largest private bank
Mumbai: Global Trust Bank and UTI Bank have decided to merge themselves into the largest private bank in the country. The new merged entity -UTI Global Bank will have largest of asset, deposit and profit in the private banking sector.

The merger will take effect through a stock swap deal, under which shareholders of both GTB and UTI Bank will be offered shares of the proposed UTI Global Bank, based on the swap ratio, that will be arrived after considering the financials of both the banks.
The new bank will be based in Hyderabad, currently the head office of GTB. UTI Global Bank will have a network of 157 branches and 321 automated teller machines. The combined net worth will stand at Rs 921 crore. Deposits of the new entity will stand at Rs 16,665 crore, while advances will work out to Rs 7,904 crore. The combined net profit going by the last year's balance sheet works out to Rs 921 core.

The two bank boards are meeting separately on January 27, 2000, to consider the merger proposal. . The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has given its approval for the merger.

Bank of Punjab & Nova Scotia Bank in alliance
Mumbai: The Chandigarh-based Bank of Punjab (BoP) has announced an alliance with Bank of Nova Scotia, one of Canada's leading banks, to facilitate quick remittance from Canada for non-resident Indians (NRIs). Under the arrangement Bank of Nova Scotia, would by telegraphic Canadian dollar transfer, guarantees payment in rupees within 24-48 hours of receipt through by any BoP's branch in India.

To add to the convenience of the person transferring funds, he would have to only mention just the telephone number of the beneficiary along with other details and the rest is taken care of by the bank. Moreover, the bank's customers can use the bank's online internet banking facility to view all credits on remittances sent to their account.