Despite bankruptcy

Shifra Menezes
27 July 2004

Established in 1993 and headquartered at Secunderabad, the Global Trust Bank (GTB) was promoted as a private sector bank by Ramesh Gelli, Jayanta Madhab and Sridhar Subasri against the backdrop of the government's policy of deregulation and liberalisation. With a 40-per cent contribution by the core promoters, the bank was the first in India to attract equity participation from two international multilateral institutions — International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Asian Development Bank (ADB) — the only other major shareholders.

Headed by managing director Sudhakar Gande and presidents Anand Anchan and G Laxminarayana, GTB was once touted to be one of India's best before it succumbed to staggering NPA.

The bank has a network of 104 branches and 275 ATMs in 34 cities across the country. Retail banking products, wholesale banking products, treasury products, investment banking products, non-resident Indian products, depository services and advisory services were some of the offerings the bank has served up.

Strategic alliances Apart from these alliances, GTB has entered into various other equity and technical partnerships. The bank has signed an MoU with Daiwa Securities Group, part of the Daiwa Institute of Research, to undertake joint research and training on the Indian economy and industry. It has also tied up with Hambrecht & Quist to develop skills in recognising opportunities in the fields of biotechnology, communications and information technology.

GTB has sought the expertise and training support of TA Enterprise Berhad, Malaysia, for their investment banking division's placement, bought out and structured deal activities.

During 2000-2001, the bank tied up with shopping malls, e-brokers and utility service providers, which increased GTB's customer base to about 660,000. To accommodate the increase, five more branches were opened and 65 more ATMs were launched, taking the tally for the year up to 79 and 101 respectively.