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Country's largest lender State Bank of India today denied receiving any communication from the British banking regulator asking it to convert branches in the island nation into a wholly-owned subsidiary.
"That is all wrong. I have checked with our London branch and they have not heard from the Prudential Regulatory Authority (PRA)," SBI chairman Arundhati Bhattacharya told PTI in an interaction.
When asked whether the bank is open to the idea of subsidiary route, she said, without elaborating, that they would like to continue with the branch model.
Bhattacharya said that in fact, the British monetary authority has allowed SBI to open two more branches.
PTI had on Sunday reported quoting a PRA statement that deposit-taking foreign banks that want to remain a branch must have under 100 million pounds in account balances and under 5,000 customers.
Under the new draft norms, the PRA that supervises individual banks, requires lenders from outside the European Economic Area to offer only minimal retail services to insulate them from any possible credit issues at their respective home markets.
While the Bank of England has not named any would-be affected banks, analysts say apart from SBI, another state-run lender Bank of India would also be hit.
The British operations are one of the largest for SBI's overseas business with seven branches. SBI nets 18% of its total business from its vast overseas operations and it is looking at taking this to 25% over the next three years.
Bhattacharya said that she had a discussion with the regulatory authority and they said the decision on the issue has not been taken so far.
"They have said whatever they do they will give us sufficient time. Even if they feel that we need to have a wholly-owned subsidiary, we will have sufficiently long time of three-four years to get the process in place and do the transition.
"But whether they will want us to do that at all, that also they have not taken a call, and it is something that they will determine later," she added.
