Mumbai: Emirates NBD, a leading banking Group in the Middle East marked the opening of its first branch in India with a high-level celebration at the Taj Mahal Hotel, Mumbai.
The Mumbai branch, centrally located in Maker Maxity, Bandra Kurla Complex, marks the bank’s fifth international branch outside of its network. The branch will offer a range of services to corporate, SME and institutional clients including trade finance, treasury services, bilateral and syndicated loans in addition to supporting NRI (non-resident Indian) customers looking for cross-border wealth management solutions. Emirates NBD’s India operations will be headed by Sharad Agarwal, a seasoned professional with over 20 years of banking experience in India and the UAE, including a decade of experience within Emirates NBD Group.
Emirates NBD is a major player in the corporate and retail banking arena in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and has strong Islamic Banking, Global Markets & Treasury, Investment Banking, Private Banking, Asset Management and Brokerage operations. It has a significant retail banking franchise in the UAE and is a key participant in the global digital banking industry, with over 90 percent of all financial transactions and requests conducted outside of its branches. The bank currently has over 231 branches and overa 1000 ATMs and CDMs in the UAE and overseas and a large social media following, being the only bank in the Middle East ranked among the top 20 in the ‘Power 100 Social Media Rankings’, compiled by The Financial Brand.
Shayne Nelson, Group CEO of Emirates NBD commented, “We are delighted to expand our footprint to India, building on the UAE’s strong historic, cultural and commercial ties with the country. As a key trading partner of the UAE and as one of the fastest growing economies in the world, India represents an important and strategic growth market. Emirates NBD is the only UAE-based bank with physical presence across all of India’s important trade corridors from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) across to Asia and the United Kingdom (UK) and our aim is to be the bank of choice for Indian corporates and individuals looking to invest and do business in the MENA region.”
The branch opening by Dubai’s biggest bank will support existing economic, business and bilateral relations between India and the UAE following a high-level visit by Prime Minister Modi in 2015and the recent establishment of the UAE-India Infrastructure Investment Fund.
Commented Sharad Agarwal, CEO – India at Emirates NBD, “We are excited at the opportunities the new branch brings as we gradually increase our presence in India. We have invested USD 100 million to establish proximity to our Indian customer base and to better support NRIs and businesses looking for cross-border advisory and intermediary services.”
Indians constitute the largest expatriate community in UAE and a third of Emirates NBD’s customer base is from India. The bank‘s 60 second online funds transfer service to India, DirectRemit, has facilitated nearly a billion dirhams of NRI remittance flows this year. Emirates NBD offers NRI clients personal loans against NRE fixed deposits in its Indian partner banks and has an NRI Private Banking division in addition to a dedicated NRI desk in its London branch.Emirates NBD has a presence across all of India’s key trade corridors from the Middle East and North Africa (UAE, Egypt, and KSA) across to Asia(Singapore, China, and Indonesia) and the UK(London).
