SBI inks JV with IAG; forays into insurance market

New Delhi, Nov 24: State Bank of India, one of India's largest bank on Monday, Nov 24 said it has inked an agreement with Insurance Australia Group (IAG) to form a joint venture (JV) for providing general insurance in the domestic market.

The public sector lender will hold 74 per cent stake in the JV, while 26 per cent will be owned by IAG, company said in a statement. However, the JV is subject to regulatory approval, it added. IAG and SBI had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for a general insurance venture in May this year. SBI has over 100 million customer with a network of more than 11,000 branches. It also has access to an additional 46 million customers and 4,500 branches through its associate banks.

Last week, it had received approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for a JV with European financial services group Societe Generale for offering custodial and related services in the country.

UNI