UTI Bank to become Pan-Asian

New Delhi, Mar 13 (UNI) To take advantage of the growing intra- Asian trade and investments, UTI Bank Chairman and Managing Director P K Nayak today said his bank has plans to go Pan-Asian with the opening up of a number of overseas branches soon.

''We will open a full service branch in Hong Kong next week and in the Dubai Financial Centre in early April,'' Mr Nayak told a news conference here.

The head of the UTI Bank said the bank has a representative office in Shanghai and a full-fledged branch in Singapore.

''The focal of future growth will be Asia, where trade and investments are posied to grow rapidly,'' Mr Nayak said.

Mr Nayak said the focus of the bank in its overseas operations will be corporate debt syndication as more and more Indian companies are accessing the foreign markets. Besides, the bank would also help in tapping of the External Commercial Borrowings and convertible bonds.

He said the strength of the bank pertained to private corporate debt market and added it will now use this niche area for its overseas expansions.

Besides, at present the bank is Advisor to some lead managers in raising debt and equity, but plans are afoot to assume the role of lead managers themselves.

''Initially we will get into the wholesale trade, but eventually we will move over to retail lending as we gather experience abroad,'' Mr Nayak said.

UTI Bank, which is merely a decade-and-half old, has a network of 518 branches and 2,258 ATMs across the country. The branches, spread across more than 306 cities, towns and villages, cater to the customers in both the retail and corporate segment.

UNI