Chennai-based public sector bank Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) will join hands with Bank of Baroda (BoB)and Andhra Bank to start operations in Malayasia. The new joint venture is expected to commence operations by the end of 2009. The bank has also got the Reserve Bank of India’s nod to go ahead with the acquisition of Pune-based Shree Suvarna Sahakari Bank.
IOB’s chairman and managing director, S A Bhatt said that as part of the bank’s overseas expansion plan, it wanted to enter Malaysia. But as per the Malaysian government norms, a bank should have a minimum capital of $100 million. So, it decided to partner with other banks to enter the Malaysian market.