Banking Institutions and History

Iran’s Central Bank has opened an account with India’s UCO Bank to facilitate the payment for oil payments issues.

The State Bank of India has won the prestigious Asian Banker Achievement Award for being the strongest bank in Asia Pacific region, instituted by the Qatar Financial Centre Authority and the Asian Banker magazine on May 10 2010.

Bank of Rajasthan (BoR), one of the oldest private sector banks in the country, on May 18, 2010 announced that it would merge with the largest private sector bank, ICICI Bank. P K Tayal is the main promoter of BoR. BoR under Tayals has been under regulatory scanner for a while. In February, RBI slapped a fine of Rs 25 lakh on the bank following violations related to know-your customer (KYC) guidelines.

UK   based    multinational   bank   Standard Chartered PLC raised Rs 2700 crore through its Indian Depository Receipts (IDR) issue in May 2010. The bank that has presence in 70 countries across the world has had operations in India for the last 152 years with its first branch in Kolkata in 1858.  India accounted for 20 per cent of Standard Chartered's profits in 2009 calender year.

Bank of Hindustan was the first bank of India.

There are 19 nationalised banks at present. 14 were nationalised in 1969 and 6 in 1980 but in 1993, one bank was merged.

Small Scale Industries Development Bank of India was established for the development of small industries. NABARD was formed for the development of agriculture and ICICI and IDBI for industrial development.

All others are public sector banks.

Deepak Parekh is a prominent Indian businessman who is best known for his long association with HDFC (Housing Development Finance Corporation), where he served as Chairman.

The Avadh Commercial Bank, established in 1881, is recognized as the first bank in India having limited liability and managed by Indians.

The Banking Ombudsman Scheme was introduced by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). While option A says 'ARBI', this appears to be a typographical error for 'RBI'. RBI introduced this scheme in 1995 as part of its consumer protection mandate. SBI, Ministry of Finance, and NABARD do not introduce banking regulatory schemes.

Organized sectors in banking refer to regulated entities like nationalized, regional rural, and cooperative banks. Chits and money lenders are part of the unorganized sector.

Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) in India are jointly owned by the Central Government (50%), the concerned State Government (15%), and the Sponsor Bank (35%). They are not wholly owned by the sponsor bank.

Post-nationalization in 1969 and 1980, Indian banks underwent massive branch expansion, particularly in rural and unbanked areas, to promote financial inclusion.