Swaminarayana Bank gets shareholders' nod for merger

The shareholders of the Vadodara-based Shri Swaminarayana Co-operative Bank Ltd (SSCB) has passed a resolution agreeing to merge the beleaguered bank with another co-operative bank.

As the shareholders have given their approval, the legal custodian will now propose the issue to the state government.

"The shareholders, mainly consisting of the depositors, do not want the bank to be closed down. We have unanimously supported the resolution in the interest of small depositors," said Raghvaji Rayani, president, SETU, an organisation promoted by the SSCB depositors.

The annual general meeting (AGM), in which the shareholders agreed to merger, was held under police security.

The bank has lost over Rs 30 crore after the Madhavpura Mercantile Co-operative Bank went bust. The SSCB had to withdrew itself from the clearing house operations due to inadequate liquidity on December 2003 and the state government appointed a custodian to run the bank.

The bank has deposits of over Rs 63 crore. About 90 per cent of the deposits have been covered by the Depositors Insurance Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC).