ABN Amro, DBS, State Bank of Mauritius apply for WOS

Under the new RBI rules, foreign banks with 20 or more branches have to mandatorily convert into local subsidiaries.

Three foreign bankers - ABN Amro, DBS and State Bank of Mauritius - have applied for operating as wholly-owned subsidiaries (WOS) in the country, according to Reserve Bank of India (RBI) deputy governor R Gandhi.

"ABN Amro, DBS and State Bank of Mauritius have applied to convert their franchises in the country into local subsidiaries," Gandhi told reporters in Mumbai.

At present, there are nearly 100 foreign banks operating in the country and all of them operate through branches or as representative offices.

Under the new RBI rules, foreign banks with 20 or more branches have to mandatorily convert into local subsidiaries.
Also, the foreign banks entering India after August 2010 would have to mandatorily follow the local subsidiary route.

Currently, only Standard Chartered, HSBC and Citigroup have over 50 branches each and fall under the mandatory WOS route.