Credit Suisse says to reopen Indian brokerage in March

SINGAPORE, Mar 5 (Reuters) Credit Suisse , which was forced to halt trading securities in India in 2001 for two years, will reopen its brokerage business in Mumbai later this month to tap into the country's booming capital markets.

''We will start trading in India in the near future,'' said Paul Calello, the chief executive of the bank's Asia-Pacific operations who was recently appointed head of global investment banking. ''I would expect this month.'' Stock market regulator SEBI suspended the bank's Indian unit from broking activities in 2001 for two years, alleging that it had violated rules on price manipulation. Credit Suisse's brokerage business in India has been dormant ever since.

Calello said that China and India would remain key growth markets for Credit Suisse in Asia and that the bank has been building its presence in these two markets.

India has been Asia's largest market for mergers and acquisitions so far this year, accounting for nearly half of non-Japan Asia's activity after Britain's Vodafone Group Plc agreed to pay .1 billion for a controlling stake in Hutchison Essar, country's fourth-largest cellular phone company.

REUTERS CS PM1703