Standard Chartered Bank is "actively evaluating" the acquisition of the Indian assets of Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc, the biggest bank owned by the UK government, but is yet to take a decision on the deal.
"We are actively evaluating it. We had talked about it a few weeks back... But no decision has been taken yet," Standard Chartered Bank, Chief Executive for India and South Asia, Neeraj Swaroop, said here.
Without divulging more, Swaroop said the bank "remain(s) in conversation" on the proposal.
RBS is reducing its presence from the 54 countries where it does business after it posted the biggest loss in UK last year and received funding from the government.
The acquisition of RBS' Indian units falls in line with Standard Chartered's expansion footprint in the region.
On interest rates, Swaroop said the scenario looked stable and expected an upward movement in rates in the next 3-6 months.
He said banks' non-performing assets (NPAs) were fairly under control and debt restructuring undertaken by lenders lately was genuine.
"NPAs are fairly under control...I think whatever restructuring has taken place is genuine," Swaroop said.
