Cabinet gives nod to Lakshmi Vilas Bank-DBS Bank merger

By Priyanka Samania

The Union Cabinet has given its go-ahead to a scheme for the merger of Lakshmi Vilas Bank (LVB) with DBS Bank India Limited (DBS India), the Indian subsidiary of Singapore-based DBS Bank.

LVB was placed under moratorium recently to safeguard depositors’ interest, after RBI submitted an application under section 45 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949. The moratorium period has been of one month, and during this period, the RBI superseded the LVB Board of Directors in consultation with Government and appointed an Administrator. Thereafter, it invited suggestions and objections from all the stakeholders, and also provided a scheme for the proposed merger and sent the scheme for Government’s approval.

Now with the approval of the Government, LVB will be merged with DBIL India and thereafter moratorium imposed on LVB will be lifted. After the approval of the scheme of merger between LVB and DBS India, there won’t be any restrictions on withdrawal by the depositors of LVB.

DBS India is licensed by RBI and it’s operating in the country through wholly owned subsidiary mode. With a strong balance sheet, the banking company DBS India enjoys strong capital support and it’s also backed by DBS, one of the leading financial groups in Asia. It has already expanded its footprints in 18 markets. Even after the merger, DBS India would remain healthy and it will comfortably increase its branches to 600.