The plan was to expand further, add more branches and also eventually become the third bank in India to start a wholly owned subsidiary after Singapore's DBS Bank and State Bank of Mauritius, but those plans never materialised due to lack of scale and rising non-performing assets in the country.
FirstRand chief executive officer Sizwe Nxasana told Business Day that although it was still 'early days', he saw the possibility of FirstRand's operating units, such as First National Bank and Wesbank, benefiting from opening up of the Indian banking sector.
Citibank on Wednesday joined the list of foreign banks that have exited retail banking business in India. Mumbai-based Axis Bank completed acquisition of Citigroup's consumer business for Rs 11,603 crore. Under the deal, Axis acquired consumer banking businesses of Citibank India, which includes credit cards, retail banking, wealth management and consumer loans.
The Indian regulatory framework forced Citi to hibernate -- contrary to the claim that it never sleeps!
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