UTI bank to set up new Assest Management subsidiary co soon

Kolkata, Jan 27 (UNI) UTI Bank, one of the largest private banks in the country, is diversifying its business activities by setting up an Asset Management Company "soon" to take care of infrastructure financing.

Announcing this and some other future programmes, UTI Bank Executive Director, Corporate Strategy, R Asokkumar here today said following the receipt of necessary clerance from RBI for the new company, to be known as the "UBL (UTI Bank Limited) Asset Management Company Private Limited", steps were being taken to float the new unit "before the end of the first quarter of the next fiscal".

"However, we are yet to decide on the intitial corpus and other formats of the new company", Mr Kumar said and referred to the Bank's another proposal to float an investment related subsidiary in London later next year.

Without sheding much light on the London subsidiary, the UTI Bank ED maintained that the proposal was still at the nascent stage since the bank was yet to submit any formal proposal to the RBI as well as to the concerned British authorities.

Elaborating further on the Bank's international operations, Mr Kumar said following the opening of their first overseas branch in Singapore in July last, it was doing excellent business."Encouraged by that we have now decided to open two more international business centres in Hong Kong and Dubai and a Representative office in Shanghai before March this year".

To a query on whether the Bank was looking for any capital restructuring by infusing more funds, Mr Kumar replied in the negative. "Last year itself we have raised more than Rs 1200 crore for the same purpose which had comfortably placed our capital adequacy ratio to almost 12 per cent now and it does not requre any fresh funds", Mr Kumar emphasised.

Incidentally, today the UTI Bank opened its first and exclusive Priority Bank branch in the city, also the third in the country after one each in Mumbai and Delhi, having awide variety of additonal and exlusive services for its customers.

"We are planning to open a more such exlusive branches in Pune, Hyderabad, Chennai and Bangalore soon to cater to a wide range of priority customers, numbering more than 175,000 in the country so far.", the ED said. Among the exclusive services to be provided to priority customers in the branch 'totally free of cost' were state of the business conference facilities, internet access, concierge services, valet parking facility and Children's playing zone while simultaneoulsy providing the best customer services for a wide range of hassle free banking services.

UNI