SBI to complete merger of 6 banks in three months

State Bank of India, which would start merger process of five associates and Bharatiya Mahila Bank (BMB) from April 1, expects integration to be completed in three months. 

"SBI has sought three-month time from RBI for merger. It should be done by that timeframe," SBI Managing Director (national banking group) Rajnish Kumar said here. "The merger has to be done in phases. As data are integrated, the new passbook and cheque books would be issued. The complete integration of various banks should take 3 months," he said. 

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SBI to merge with associates from 1st April

The government on Thursday said that 1 April will be the record date for the merger of State Bank of India (SBI) with five of its associate banks.The associate banks are State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur (SBBJ), State Bank of Mysore (SBM), State Bank of Travancore (SBT), State Bank of Hyderabad (SBH) and State Bank of Patiala (SBP).

In a gazette notification dated 22 February and released on Thursday, the government said that all shares of these associate banks would cease to exist as individual entities and would stand transferred to SBI.

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SBI pushes merger of 5 associate banks,Bharatiya Mahila Bank to next quarter

The merger of the five associate banks with State Bank of India (SBI) will be postponed to by a quarter due to the demonetization exercise, acknowledged SBI chief Arundhati Bhattacharya who for weeks had said that the merger is as per the schedule. The bank had announced in May plans to merge its five associate banks with itself by March 2017 to emerge as a global bank in order to compete with peers in emerging markets. 

Speaking to media on Monday on whether the merger of associate bank is as per the schedule, Bhattacharya said that the merger will “probably be delayed by a quarter”. She said that the delay has been because the government has not notified the merger. 

“The reason is we still have to get government approval. Even if I get the approval right now doing things in the last quarter is not a wise thing. There will be a lot of IT system changes and normally by mid-February we close down all IT system changes as these can impact something else quit unknowingly. We do not want to take any risks at the annual closing time. So we may just want to do the annual closing then look at it,” she said. 

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Bankers to strike against merger of SBI associates

Opposing the central government's decision to merge State Bank of India's (SBI) five associate banks with the former, around 45,000 employees of the associate banks will strike on July 12, said a top official.

The All India Bank Employees'Association (AIBEA) official said that on July 13, there will be a nationwide strike in all banks by AIBEA and All India Bank Officers' Confederation (AIBOC).

"Consolidation in the banking industry is not a priority now. On the other hand, recovery of the bad loans should be the priority. Prior to the July 12 strike we will hold series of demonstrations opposing the merger," CH Venkatachalam, general secretary, AIBEA told IANS.

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SBI merger to create banking powerhouse

In a definitive push for consolidation in the banking sector, the Union Cabinet on Wednesday gave a go-ahead to the of State Bank of India (SBI) with its five associate lenders and Bharatiya Mahila Bank. The combined entity would create a financial sector powerhouse, with total assets worth Rs 29.7 lakh crore.

SBI has indicated it wants to complete the merger in 2016-17. While India's largest lender would reap benefits of scale and a larger balance sheet, it will be a major challenge to integrate staff and rationalise branches.

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Cabinet approves merger of 5 associate banks with SBI

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the merger of five associate banks — State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur, State Bank of Travancore, State Bank of Patiala, State Bank of Mysore and State Bank of Hyderabad as well as Bharatiya Mahila Bank with State Bank of India, according to TV reports.

Last month, SBI cleared proposal for merger of subsidiary banks and Bharatiya Mahila Bank.

“Kindly await a structured briefing on that,” Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said when asked if the Cabinet approved the merger of associate banks with the SBI.

Arundhati Bhattacharya, chairman, SBI said, “The merger of SBI and its associate banks is a win-win for both. While the network of SBI would stand to increase, its reach would multiply. One can expect efficiencies to be created from rationalisation of branches, common treasury pooling and proper deployment of a large skilled resource base. Currently, no Indian bank features in the top 50 banks of the world. With this merger, some visibility at global level is likely to increase. Customers of associates and subsidiaries of the bank will also be beneficiaries.”

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History of State Bank of Patiala (SBP)

An Associate Bank of the State Bank of India, State Bank of Patiala (SBP) was established in 1917 by Late His Highness Bhupinder Singh, the Maharaja of erstwhile Patiala state. SBP started its operations from one branch called 'Chowk Fort', in Patiala. During the time of the establishment, the state owned Bank was known as Patiala State Bank. It was set up for the purpose of promoting the growth of agriculture, trade and industry. The operations of Patiala State Bank witnessed a drastic change, when Patiala and east Punjab States Union (PEPSU) was formed in 1948. During that time, the Bank was reorganized and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) controlled it.

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