Bank of Baroda

Bank of Baroda is a bank in India established on July 20, 1908 in the princely state of Baroda, in Gujarat. In its international expansion Bank of Baroda followed the Indian diaspora, and especially that of the Gujaratis.

Contents

1 History 1.1 1908-1958 1.2 1960s 1.3 1970s and 1980s 1.4 1990s 1.5 2000s 2 Reference 3 External link

History

1908-1958

• 1908: Maharaja Sayajirao III Gaekwad 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 to follow Asians emigrating from East Africa.
• 1958: 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.
• 1964: BOB acquired two banks, Umbergaon People’s Bank in southern Gujarat and Tamilnadu Central Bank in Madras 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.
• 1966: 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 and 1980s

• 1972: BOB acquired 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.
• 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 branch in New York and another in the Seychelles.
• 1979: BOB opened a branch in Nassau, the Bahamas.
• 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.
• 1985: BOB (20%), Bank of India (20%), Central Bank of India (20%) and ZIMCO (Zambian government; 40%) established Indo-Zambia Bank Ltd. (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.
• 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 Intl. Fin. In Hong Kong. Apparently this was a response to regulatory changes following Hong Kong’s reversion to the Peoples 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.
• 1999: BOB acquired Bareilly Corporation Bank in another rescue. In Guyana, BOB incorporated its branch as a subsidiary, Bank of Baroda Guyana.

2000s

• 2000: BOB established Bank of Baroda Botswana.
• 2002: BOB acquired Banares State Bank at the Reserve Bank of India’s request.
• 2003: BOB opened an OBU in Mumbai.
• 2004: BOB acquired a failed Local Area Bank in India, and returned to Tanzania by establishing a subsidiary there.

Reference

• Tripathi, Dwijendra and Priti Misra (1985). Towards a New Frontier: History of the Bank of Baroda, 1908-1983. (New Delhi, India: Manohar).

External link

• Bank of Baroda website (http://www.bankofbaroda.com/)