Implications of bank mergers: Overhaul of subsidiaries to cause pain

Number of branches, HR policies are other issues in bank mergers; bandwidth of managements will be tested

The bank mergers will call for a complete relook at the subsidiaries, branches, and the human resource (HR) policy of the entities involved even as it resets the competitive landscape of the banking sector in the country.

Take for instance, Canara HSBC which is jointly owned by Canara Bank with a 51 per cent stake, Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC) at 23 per cent and HSBC Insurance (Asia Pacific) Holdings (26 per cent). It is one of the leading life insurance companies with over a 60 million customer base and a pan-country network of over 8,000 plus branches of Canara Bank,