IOB retrieves Bangkok branch of Bharat Overseas Bank
Coimbatore, Mar 11: The Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) has retrieved the Bharat Overseas Bank in Bangkok in Thailand and would function as IOB from March 31, Union Finance Minister, P Chidambaram said today. Announcing this at a function to distribute priority credit loans, organised by IOB here, Chidambaram said that since the Thailand Government revoked the regulation (which banned the functioning of any government owned financial institutions in that nation), the bank would be returned to IOB again.
Later, clarifying to reporters, IOB Chairman and Managing Director, T S Narayanasami said that the branch in Bangkok was lost after nationalisation, under a regulation that no financial institutions, with over 50 per cent stake for government, could function in Thailand.
Bharat Overseas Bank, the first overseas bank from India, is being run as a private sector 33 years ago, with IOB having 30 per cent stake, he said.
Since Thailand had abrogated the clause, IOB is retrieving the branch on March 28 and start functioning from March 31, Narayanaswamy said.
