ANZ has received approval - in principal- from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to open a Mumbai branch.

This comes a decade after the bank sold its Grindlays franchise in India to Standard Chartered for US$1.3bn.

The branch, which will be set up over the next year, will initially serve financial institutions and high-end corporate customers.
ANZ currently has a presence in India through its non-banking financial company, ANZ Capital, which serves the trade finance and corporate banking sectors.

Alex Thursby, ANZ chief executive for Asia Pacific, Europe and America, comments: “This is an important step as part of a long-term commitment to progressively build our presence in India.”