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Non-Tech : ICICI Ltd - (Nyse: IC) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Mohan Marette who wrote (317)	3/5/2000 3:51:00 PM
From: Mohan Marette	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 494

Leading corporate banks eye Gulf NRI market By Mridula Krishna, India Abroad News Service Dubai, March 5 -- Major multinational banks are eying the huge nonresident Indian (NRIs) market in the Gulf region for funds with a range of products and services tailored to NRI needs. Citibank, Banque Nationale de Paris (BNP), Banque Paribas and Bank of Bahrain and Kuwait (BBK) have unveiled plans to tap the growing NRI market. According to Nanoo Pamnani, chief executive officer and India head of global consumer banking, Citibank's NRI banking business has been growing at 20-25 percent during the past few years. He said the NRI banking division is planning a more comprehensive wealth management scheme for customers which will include insurance, depository and treasury services. Pamnani was quoted as saying in local news reports that the bank was keen to enter the domestic insurance market in India which will enable it to provide insurance schemes to NRIs. Apart from that, there are plans to activate the brokerage to provide capital market services and open an asset management company, which will provide investment expertise and products for the Indian market. Also in the pipeline is Internet banking and by April, the bank will complete the first phase of the Internet banking project. All the products of the NRI banking will be available on the Net, followed by the brokerage, once it starts operations. While BNP is also trying to woo NRIs through a global wealth management product. Jonathan David Lyon, chief executive and country manager of BNP India, says the product will give deposit and investment-related services to NRIs looking to invest in Indian capital markets. The new product -- BNP Prosper -- will be a one-stop shop where the NRI investors can request for services over the Internet or over the phone. BNP's wealth management scheme is targeted at wealthy NRIs all over the world, including the Middle East, Lyon said. He said BNP ranks among the top 10 banks in the world managing the NRI wealth, which is growing at the rate of 30-35 percent currently. Also trying to attract NRIs is Bank of Bahrain and Kuwait (BBK), which has launched an equity margin trading facility. According to a bank official, the product will provide an opportunity for NRIs in the Gulf to take part in Indian share trading. Prasant Sarkar of BBK said the product will enable Indian residents in the Gulf to leverage their deposits and margin money placed with the bank for financing their equity trading....