Bank of Baroda(BOB) is an Indian Multinational, public sector Banking and Financial Services company. It is the third largest public sector bank in India post merger with a business mix of close to US$225 billion.
Based on 2019 data, it is ranked 1145 on Forbes Global 2000 list. BoB has total assets in excess of Rs.3.58 trillion (making it India's 2nd biggest bank by assets), a network of 9583 branches in India and abroad, and 10442 ATMs as of July, 2017. The government of India announced the merger of Bank of Baroda, Vijaya Bank and Dena Bank on September 17, 2018, to create the country's third largest lender. The amalgamation is the first-ever three-way consolidation of banks in the country, with a combined business of Rs 14.82 lakh crore, making it the third largest bank after State Bank of India (SBI) and ICICI Bank.
The Maharaja of Baroda, Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad III, founded the bank on 20 July 1908 in the Princely State of Baroda, in Gujarat. The Government of India nationalized the bank, along with 13 other major commercial banks of India on 19 July 1969; the bank has been designated as a profit-making public sector undertaking(PSU).
As many as 10 banks have been merged with Bank of Baroda to date.
History
1908–1959
In
1908, Maharaja
Sayajirao Gaekwad III, one of the knights of the Maratha Kingdom, set up the Bank of Baroda
(BoB), with
other stalwarts of industry such as Sampatrao Gaekwad, Ralph Whitenack, Vithaldas Thakersey, Tulsidas Kilachand and NM
Chokshi. Two years later, BoB established its first branch in Ahmedabad. The bank grew domestically
until after World War II. Then in 1953 it crossed the Indian Ocean to serve the
communities of Indians in Kenya and Indians in Uganda by establishing a branch each in Mombasa and Kampala. The next year it opened a second
branch in Kenya, in Nairobi, and in 1956 it opened a branch in
Tanzania at Dar-es-Salaam. Then in 1957 BoB took a
giant step abroad by establishing a branch in London. London was the center of
the British Commonwealth and the most important international banking center.
In 1958 BoB acquired Hind Bank (Calcutta; est. 1943), which became BoB's first
domestic acquisition.
1960s
In
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. The next year it opened a branch in Mauritius. Bank of Baroda In 1963,
BoB acquired Surat Banking Corporation in Surat, Gujarat. The next year BoB acquired two banks:
Umbergaon People’s Bank in southern Gujarat and
Tamil Nadu Central Bank in Tamil Nadu state.
In
1965, BoB opened a branch in Guyana. That same year BoB lost its branch in
Narayanjanj (East Pakistan) due to theIndo-Pakistani
War of 1965. It is unclear when BoB had opened the branch. In 1967
it suffered a second loss of branches when the Tanzanian government nationalised
BoB’s three branches there at (Dar es Salaam, Mwanga, and Moshi),
and transferred their operations to the Tanzanian government-owned National Banking Corporation.
In
1969 the Indian government nationalised 14 top banks, including BoB. BoB
incorporated its operations in Uganda as a 51% subsidiary, with the government
owning the rest.
1972s
In
1972, BoB acquired Bank of India's operations in Uganda. Two
years later, BoB opened a branch each in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
Back
in India, in 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.
International
expansion continued in 1976 with the opening of 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.
Two
years later, BoB opened a branch in New York and another in the Seychelles.
Then in 1979, BoB opened a branch in Nassau, the Bahamas.
1980s
In
1980, 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. Eventually (in 1999), BoB would buy out its
partners.
A
second consortium or joint-ventrue bank followed in 1985. BoB (20%), Bank of India (20%), Central
Bank of India (20%)
and ZIMCO (Zambian government; 40%) established Indo-Zambia
Bank in Lusaka. That same year BoB also opened an
Offshore Banking Unit (OBU) in Bahrain.
Back
in India, in 1988, BoB acquired Traders Bank, which had a network of 34
branches in Delhi.
1990s
In
1992, Boe opened an OBU in Mauritius, but closed its representative office in
Sydney. The next year 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.
Then
in 1992 BoB incorporated its operations in Kenya into a local subsidiary with a
small tranche of shares quoted on the Nairobi Stock Exchange. The next year,
BoB closed its OBU in Bahrain.
In
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.
In
1997, BoB opened a branch in Durban. The next year 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 incorporate wholly owned subsidiary BOB Capital
Markets Ltd
for broking business.
In
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 and closed its Harrow
Branch in London.
2000s
In
2000 BoB established Bank of Baroda (Botswana). The bank has three banking
offices, two in Gaberone and one in Francistown. In 2002, BoB converted its
subsidiary in Hong Kong from deposit taking company to a Restricted License
Bank.
In
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
in western districts of Uttar Pradesh; BSB also had taken over Lucknow Bank in
1968. The acquisition of BSB brought BoB 105 new branches. Lucknow Bank, a unit
bank with its only office in Aminabad, had been established in 1913. Also in
2002, BoB listed Bank
of Baroda (Uganda) on the Uganda
Securities Exchange (USE).
The next year BoB opened an OBU inMumbai.
In
2004 BoB acquired the failed Gujarat Local Area Bank. BoB also 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 centralised 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 trillion (short
scale), its branches crossed 2000, and its global customer base
29 million people. In Hong Kong, Bank got Full Fledged Banking license and
business of its Restricted License Banking subsidiary was taken over Bank of
Baroda branch in Hong Kong w.e.f.01.04.2007.
·
2008: BoB opened a branch in Guangzhou, China (02/08/2008) and in
Kenton, Harrow United Kingdom. BoB opened a joint venture life insurance
company with Andhra Bank and Legal and General (UK) called IndiaFirst
Life Insurance Company.
2010s
In
2010, Malaysia awarded a commercial banking licence to a locally incorporated
bank to be jointly owned by Bank of Baroda, Indian Overseas
Bank and Andhra Bank. That same year, BoB also
opened a branch in New Zealand.
In
2011, BoB opened an Electronic Banking Service Unit (EBSU) was opened at
Hamriya Free Zone, Sharjah (UAE). It also opened four new branches in existing
operations in Uganda, Kenya (2), and Guyana. BoB closed its representative
office in Malaysia in anticipation of the opening of its consortium bank there.
BoB received 'In Principle' approval for the upgrading of its representative
office in Australia to a branch.
The
Malaysian consortium bank, India International Bank Malaysia (IIBM), finally
opened in Kuala Lumpur, which has a large population of Indians. BOB owns 40%,
Andhra Bank owns 25%, and IOB the remaining 35% of the share capital. IIBM
seeks to open five branches within its first year of operations in Malaysia,
and intends to grow to 15 branches within the next three years.
Subsidiaries
BOB
Capital Markets (BOBCAPS) is a SEBI-registered investment
banking company
based in Mumbai, Maharashtra. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of
Bank of Baroda. Its financial services portfolio includes initial
public offerings, private placement of debts, corporate restructuring, business valuation, mergers
and acquisition, project appraisal, loan syndication, institutional equity
research, and brokerage.
Bobcards
Ltd is a credit card company, 100% subsidiary of Bank of Baroda. The company is
in the business of Credit cards, Acquiring Business & back end support for
Debit cards operations to Bank of Baroda. Bank of Baroda had introduced its
first charged card named BOBCARD in the year 1984. The whole operation of this
plastic card was managed by Credit card division of Bank of Baroda. It
established a wholly owned subsidiary, Bobcards Limited in the year 1994 to
cater to the need of rapidly growing credit card industry in a focused manner.
BOBCARDS Ltd is the first Non-banking company in India issuing credit cards
In its
international expansion, the Bank of Baroda followed the Indian diaspora,
especially that of Gujaratis. The Bank has 104
branches/offices in 24 countries including 61 branches/offices of the bank, 38
branches of its 8 subsidiaries and 1 representative office in Thailand. The
Bank of Baroda has a joint venture in Zambia with 16 branches.
Among
the Bank of Baroda’s overseas branches are ones in the world’s major financial
centres (e.g., New York, London, Dubai, Hong Kong, Brussels and
Singapore), as well as a number in other countries. The bank is engaged in
retail banking via the branches of subsidiaries in Botswana, Guyana, Kenya,
Tanzania, and Uganda. The bank plans has recently upgraded its representative
office in Australia to a branch and set up a joint venture commercial bank in
Malaysia. It has a large presence in Mauritius with about nine branches spread
out in the country.
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
tagline of Bank of Baroda is "India's International Bank".
IndiaFirst
Life Insurance Company is a
joint venture between Bank of Baroda (44%) and fellow Indian state-owned bank Andhra Bank (30%),
and UK’s financial and investment company Legal & General (26%). It was
incorporated in November, 2009 and has its headquarters in Mumbai. The company
started strongly, achieving a turnover in excess of ₹ 2
billion in its first four and half months.
| Corporate Centre |
Bank Of Baroda
Baroda Corporate Centre,
Plot No - C-26, G - Block, Bandra - Kurla Complex, Bandra (East), Mumbai-400051
Phone :(022) 6698 5000- 04
Fax :(022) 2652 3500 |
| Head Office |
Bank of Baroda
Suraj Plaza-1, Sayaji Ganj,
Vadodara -390020 | Bank of Baroda
Baroda House,
Baroda-396006 |
Phone : (0265)2307852/2361852
Fax : (0265)2362914 | Phone : (0265)2576402
Fax : (0265)2517813 |
