• Investment World
• eWorld
• Brand Line
• Mentor
• Life
• Canvas
• Praxis
• Urban Pulse
• Brand Quest
• The New Manager

Stocks

• Quotes
• SE Diary
• Scoreboard
• Open-End Mutual Fund

Cross Currency

• Rates
  
  

Shipping

• Ports
  
  

Archives

• Yesterday
• Datewise
• Resources
• In Focus
• In Depth

Group Sites

• The Hindu
• The Hindu ePaper
• Business Line
• Business Line ePaper
• Sportstar
• Frontline
• The Hindu eBooks
• The Hindu Images

Our Bureau

"WE ALSO COMPETE": Dr K.C. Chakrabarty, Chairman & Managing Director, Indian Bank, Mr K.N. Prithviraj, Chairman & Managing Director, Oriental Bank of Commerce, and Mr B. Sambamurthy, Chairman & Managing Director, Corporation Bank, at a press conference in Mumbai on Friday. — Shashi Ashiwal

Mumbai , Sept 15

Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC), Indian Bank and Corporation Bank today signed an alliance to share business.

The Memorandum of Intent (MoI) will cover e-payment systems, sharing of IT infrastructure, training, ATMs, treasury resources, loan syndication, capital market and international forays.

Banks cannot yet share bank accounts or cash transactions through branches, as each bank is a separate legal entity.

Dr. K.C. Chakrabarty, Chairman and Managing Director of Indian Bank, said: "Technology upgradation is costly. Skill acquisition is becoming difficult, due to which we are unable to leverage branch networks. This way we can compete in a competitive environment."

Mr K N Prithviraj, Chairman and Managing Director of OBC, said: "The identity of each bank and its employees will be maintained."

Mr B. Sambamurthy, Chairman and Managing Director of Corporation Bank, said: "While we collaborate we also compete."

Being an alliance, there is no need for regulatory approval from the Reserve Bank of India, the bank chiefs jointly told newspersons.

Though there is no special provision of a `no compete' clause, they said that there would not be any poaching of staff.

The joint market share of the three together will not cross five per cent.

Also, they did not rule out the possibility of more banks joining up.

On the BSE today, the shares of Corporation Bank closed at Rs 358.25 (Rs 351.45) while OBC ended at Rs 226.5 (Rs 223.85).

More Stories on : Public Sector Banks | Alliances & Joint Ventures

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
Rainfall figures slip back into negative territory

Copyright © 2006, The Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu Business Line