Bank of Baroda

Bank of Baroda is the third largest bank in India, after the State Bank of India and the Punjab National Bank and ahead of ICICI Bank. BoB has total assets in excess of Rs. 2.27 lakh crores, or Rs. 2,274 billion, a network of over 3,000 branches and offices, and about 1,100 ATMs. IT plans to open 400 new branches in the coming year. It offers a wide range of banking products and financial services to corporate and retail customers through a variety of delivery channels and through its specialised subsidiaries and affiliates in the areas of investment banking, credit cards and asset management. Its total business was Rs. 4,402 billion as of June 30.

As of August 2010, the bank has 78 branches abroad and by the end of FY11 this number should climb to 90. In 2010, BOB opened a branch in Auckland, New Zealand, and its tenth branch in the United Kingdom. The bank also plans to open five branches in Africa. Besides branches, BoB plans to open three outlets in the Persian Gulf region that will consist of ATMs with a couple of people.

The Maharajah of Baroda, Sir Sayajirao Gaekwad III, founded the bank on 20 July 1908 in the princely state of Baroda, in Gujarat. The bank, along with 13 other major commercial banks of India, was nationalised on 19 July 1969, by the government of India.

International presence

Among the Bank of Baroda’s 42 overseas branches are ones in the world’s major financial centers (e.g., New York, London, Dubai,Hong Kong (which it has upgraded recently), Brussels and Singapore), as well as a number in other countries. The bank is engaged in retail banking via 17 branches of subsidiaries in Botswana, Guyana, Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda. The Bank of Baroda also has a joint-venture bank in Zambia with nine branches. The Bank of Baroda maintains representative offices in Malaysia, China, Thailand, and Australia. It plans to upgrade its offices in China and Malaysia shortly to a branch and joint-venture, respectively.In its international expansion, the Bank of Baroda followed the Indian diaspora, especially that of the Gujaratis. It has significant international presence with a network of 72 offices in 25 countries, six subsidiaries, and four representative offices. 

The Bank of Baroda has received permission or in principle approval from host country regulators to open new offices in Trinidad and Tobago and Ghana, where it seeks to establish joint ventures or subsidiaries. The bank has received Reserve Bank of India approval to open offices in The Maldives, and New Zealand. It is seeking approval for operations in Bahrain, South Africa, Kuwait, Mozambique, and Qatar and is establishing offices in Canada, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and Russia. It also has plans to extend its existing operations in the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates, and Botswana. The slogan of bank of baroda is "india's International Bank".

History

1908-1959

• 1908: Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad III set up Bank of Baroda (BOB).
• 1910: BoB established its first branch in Ahmedabad.
• 1953: BoB established a branch in Mombasa and another in Kampala.
• 1954: BoB opened a branch in Nairobi.
• 1956: BoB opened a branch in Dar-es-Salaam.
• 1957: BoB established a branch in London.
• 1959: BoB acquired Hind Bank.

1960s

• 1961: BoB merged in New Citizen Bank of India. This merger helped it increase its branch network in Maharashtra.
• BOB also opened a branch in Fiji.

• 1962: BoB opened a branch in Mauritius.
• 1963: BoB acquired Surat Banking Corporation in Surat, Gujarat.
• 1964: BoB acquired two banks, Umbergaon People’s Bank in southern Gujarat and Tamil Nadu Central Bank in Tamil Nadu state.
• 1964: BoB lost its branch in Narayanjanj (East Pakistan) due to the Indo-Pakistan war. It is unclear when BOB had opened the branch.
• 1965: BoB opened a branch in Guyana.
• 1967: The Tanzanian government nationalized BoB’s three branches there and transferred their operations to the Tanzanian government-owned National Banking Corporation.
• 1969: The government of India nationalized 14 top banks, including BoB.

BoB incorporated its operations in Uganda as a 51% subsidiary, with the government owning the rest.

1970s

• 1972: BoB acquired The Bank of India’s operations in Uganda.
• 1974: BoB opened a branch each in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
• 1975: BoB acquired the majority shareholding and management control of Bareilly Corporation Bank (est. 1928) and Nainital Bank (est. in 1954), both in Uttar Pradesh. Since then, Nainital Bank has expanded to Uttarakhand State.
• 1976: BoB opened a branch in Oman and another in Brussels. The Brussels branch was aimed at Indian firms from Mumbai (Bombay) engaged in diamond cutting and jewellery having business in Antwerp, a major center for diamond cutting.
• 1978: BoB opened a branch in New York and another in the Seychelles.
• 1979: BoB opened a branch in Nassau, the Bahamas.

1980s

BoB opened a branch in Bahrain and a representative office in Sydney, Australia.

BoB, Union Bank of India and Indian Bank established IUB International Finance, a licensed deposit taker, in Hong Kong. Each of the three banks took an equal share.

• 1985: BoB (20%), Bank of India (20%), Central Bank of India (20%) and ZIMCO (Zambian government; 40%) established Indo-Zambia Bank (Lusaka). BoB also opened an Offshore Banking Unit (OBU) in Bahrain.
• 1988: BoB acquired Traders Bank, which had a branch network in Delhi.

1990s

• 1990: BoB opened an OBU in Mauritius, but closed its representative office in Sydney.
• 1991: BoB took over the London branches of Union Bank of India and Punjab & Sind Bank (P&S). P&S’s branch had been established before 1970 and Union Bank’s after 1980. The Reserve Bank of India ordered the takeover of the two following the banks' involvement in the Sethia fraud in 1987 and subsequent losses.
• 1992 BoB incorporated its operations in Kenya into a local subsidiary with a small tranche of shares quoted on the Nairobi Stock Exchange.
• 1993: BoB closed its OBU in Bahrain.
• 1996: BoB Bank entered the capital market in December with an Initial Public Offering (IPO). The Government of India is still the largest shareholder, owning 66% of the bank's equity.
• 1997: BoB opened a branch in Durban.
• 1998: BoB bought out its partners in IUB International Finance in Hong Kong. Apparently this was a response to regulatory changes following Hong Kong’s reversion to the People’s Republic of China. The now wholly owned subsidiary became Bank of Baroda (Hong Kong), a restricted license bank.

BoB also acquired Punjab Cooperative Bank in a rescue.

• BoB also incorporate wholly owned subsidiary BOB Capital Markets Ltd.for Broking Business.
• 1999: BoB merged in Bareilly Corporation Bank in another rescue. At the time, Bareilly had 64 branches, including four in Delhi
• In Guyana, BoB incorporated its branch as a subsidiary, Bank of Baroda Guyana.
• BoB added a branch in Mauritius, but closed its Harrow Branch in London.

2000s

• 2000: BoB established Bank of Baroda (Botswana).
• 2002: BoB acquired Benares State Bank (BSB) at the Reserve Bank of India’s request. BSB was established in 1946 but traced its origins back to 1871 and its function as the treasury office of the Benares state. In 1964, BSB had acquired Bareilly Bank (est. 1934), with seven branches; it also had taken over Lucknow Bank in 1968. The acquisition of BSB brought BOB 105 new branches.
• 2002: Bank of Baroda (Uganda) was listed on the Uganda Securities Exchange (USE).
• 2003: BoB opened an OBU in Mumbai.
• 2004: BoB acquired the failed Gujarat Local Area Bank, and returned to Tanzania by establishing a subsidiary in Dar-es-Salaam. BoB also opened a representative office each in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and Guangdong, China.
• 2005: BoB built a Global Data Centre (DC) in Mumbai for running its centralized banking solution (CBS) and other applications in more than 1,900 branches across India and 20 other counties where the bank operates. BoB also opened a representative office in Thailand.
• 2006: BoB established an Offshrore Banking Unit (OBU) in Singapore.
• 2007: In its centenary year, BoB’s total business crossed 2.09 lakh crores, its branches crossed 1000, and its global customer base 29 million people.
• 2008: BoB opened a branch in Guangzhou, China (02/08/2008) and in Kenton, Harrow United Kingdom.
• 2008: BoB opened a joint venture life insurance company with Andhra Bank and Legal and General (UK) called IndiaFirst Life Insurance Company
• 2009: The Bank of Baroda registered with the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, enabling it to trade as a bank in New Zealand (2009/09/01)

2010s

• 2010: Malaysia awarded a commercial banking license to a locally incorporated bank to be jointly owned by Bank of Baroda, Indian Overseas Bank and Andhra Bank. The new bank, India BIA Bank (Malaysia), will reside in Kuala Lumpur, which has a large population of Indians. Andhra Bank will hold a 25% stake in the joint-venture, BoB will own 40% and IOB the remaining 35%.