Swiss bank has major India plans

Swiss banking major Credit Suisse today announced plans for India, which include re-activating its brokerage in the country as it proposes to build an 80-member strong team for its various business segments ranging from investment banking and asset management to wealth management and research.

Credit Suisse joins other global banks Lehman Brothers and Goldman Sachs in announcing big plans for India. It was awaiting regulatory approvals to enter the asset management business in India, top officials told reporters here.

The bank also announced the setting up of a business process outsourcing centre in Pune, in partnership with Wipro Technologies, to provide support functions for Credit Suisse's businesses globally.

The Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Pune follows similar centres established by Credit Suisse in Singapore and north Carolina in the US, and will have 1,500 people providing outsourced services for a wide range of banking functions.

These will include IT, operations, finance and front-office analytics, said Paul Calello, chief executive officer of the bank's Asia-Pacific operations. The CoE will become operational from January 2007.