Financial behemoth, UBS whose licence to open a banking branch in India was put on hold, has now been cleared by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). “UBS was given approval for opening a branch but it was kept on hold till it (bank) finished certain transactions. Now, the bank has completed them. It can start a branch,” RBI deputy governor V Leeladhar said on the sidelines of a function. Sources said the RBI had put on hold the licence approval following the Swiss bank’s reluctance to provide details to the Indian authorities of money transfers across Switzerland, New York, the British Virgin Islands, and Pune. The Enforcement Directorate was probing the alleged transfer of funds between Pune-based Hasan Ali and a Saudi Arabian arms dealer through the bank.UBS shares had tanked in the global markets on Friday following revelations of the bank’s huge exposure in the sub-prime markets. UBS is among the world’s worst hit banks in the credit crunch and has already written down $18.4 billion worth of assets in 2007. Leeladhar added that the banking regulator is also in the final process of discussions for allowing Singapore-based DBS Bank to further expand its branch network in India. DBS already has two branches in India — one in Delhi and the other in Mumbai. The Singapore-based bank’s proposal of setting up more branches in India is pending with the Reserve Bank of India following the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s delay in granting full banking licence to State Bank of India and ICICI Bank.
