All India Bank Employee's Association (AIBEA) & Bank Employees Federation of India (BEFI) had called on ALL INDIA STRIKE on 25th September 2013 to oppose: - ANTI-PEOPLE BANKING SECTOR REFORMS - CONTEMPLATION FOR MERGER OF PSBs - UNWARRANTED CLOSURE OF ASSOCIATE BANKS & MERGER WITH SBI - RETROGRADE POLICY TO GIVE BANKING LICENCE TO CORPORTE AND BUSINESS HOUSES - UNILATERAL IMPOSITION OF SERVICE CONDITIONS.
"In the next two days, we will be informing the chairman of the name of the entity most suitable for the merger," managing director S Vishwanathan told reporters on the sidelines of an event here this evening. Vishwanathan, who looks after SBI associates and subsidiaries, said by the end of September, he hopes that some decision to be made, after which it will go for regulatory approvals. He, however, declined to comment when asked if a listed or an unlisted bank will be merged. Vishwanathan said the employees of the merged entity will get the same benefit as SBI staff, including pension. Click HERE for the complete article.
State Bank of India will merge one of its associate banks by the end of September, marking one more step towards creating a global-sized Indian bank. The outgoing SBI Chief, Pratip Chaudhuri, clarified that the bank to be absorbed now will definitely not be State Bank of Hyderabad because of the tense atmosphere in Andhra Pradesh over the bifurcation of the State. “Since our retail deposit base is strong, we will absorb a bank whose retail base is weak,” Chaudhuri said. He, however, did not name the subsidiary, which will be lapped up. Sources, who did not wish to be named, said the bank which will merge with SBI could either be State Bank of Patiala or State Bank of Mysore. CLICK HERE for the complete article.
The proposed creation of Telangana State has thrown a spanner in State Bank of India’s plans for merger of its largest associate, State Bank of Hyderabad, with itself. As it is 100 per cent owned by SBI along with State Bank of Patiala, the merger process would be easier and would not involve any share acquisition from outside. “However, Telangana State will change the operational dynamics of SBI in terms of branches and overlapping which needs to be looked into. “Hence, SBH would miss the chances of merger this time,” the executive said. Harshavardhan, General Secretary of SBH staff association and Associate Banks’ employee association, also hinted that the merger could be delayed. The bank now is likely to consider merger of either State Bank of Patiala (SBP) or State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur (SBBJ) which has limited shares under public holding, if it puts off SBH merger for now. A 100 per cent stake in SBP and absence of local head office for SBI in Rajasthan might work in favour of the merger. Further, according to sources, the Finance Ministry appears to be now tilted towards a merger with SBBJ. CLICK HERE for the complete article
As the question of merging associate banks with State Bank of India (SBI) gets contentious by the day, employees of the five associate banks are stepping up their opposition to the move. While the last meeting of non-supervisory staff under the banner of the State Sector Bank Employees Union (SSBEA) was held on Saturday last in Bangalore, the next one will be held in Thiruvananthapuram outside SBT on July 20, according to SSBEA General Secretary N Venugopal. The SSBEA represents employees of State Bank of Mysore (SBM), State Bank of Travancore (SBT), State Bank of Patiala (SBP), State Bank of Hyderabad (SBH) and State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur (SBBJ). In fact, officers of the five banks under the umbrella of the Associate Bank Officers' Association (ABOA) have their reservations on the issue. General Secretary of ABOA (SBH unit) Harshavardhan Madabhushi said, “When a big bank takes over a small bank, there are natural concerns of step-motherly treatment being meted out to the merged entity's employees.” He reiterated fears of bank employee unions that there will be rationalisation of branches post-merger, possibly leading to job losses. Click HERE for the complete article.
Experts from conversation with the Managing Director of SBM, Sharad Sharma (Source: Deccan Herald) Merger of associate banks of SBI is imminent, one announcement is likely this quarter. Will it be SBM? I don't know. The merger issue is regularly discussed, it also came up during the July 3 meeting. The committee headed by SBI MD & Group Executive (Associate & Subsidiaries) S Vishvanathan is likely to submit its report before SBI board next month. What is the view of SBM employees? There is no opposition to the merger from them. The officers’ association and also the unions are okay with it. We regularly talk to them. Presently, 82 per cent of our branches are in Karnataka, so post-merger, there could be some relocation of employees. Any operational challenges? Also, how much time would it take? We have the same IT super structure, risk management capability, systems and procedures as SBI. To complete the merger, it would take about four to six months, there are regulatory issues as well. Click HERE for the complete article.
During its general council meeting at Thapar University on Sunday 7th July, the All India State Bank of Patiala Employees Federation (AISBPEF) opposed merger of associate banks with SBI and demanded delinking of associates from State Bank of India. S K Gautam, general secretary AISBPEF, said that the federation demanded delinking of associate banks from SBI on basis of performance of associate banks being better than SBI. "SBI management policies are restricting growth of associate banks. By giving license to new generation private banks, govt policies are moving in the direction of US pattern of banking where 30-40 banks are liquidated every year" he said. Click HERE for the complete article.
The meeting of UFBU held on 4th July,deplored the moves of the Government for merger of Banks more particularly the merger of Associate Banks with SBI which is widely in circulation and decided to oppose any such move. The meeting also highly deplored the manner in which the outsourcing of regular and perennial banking jobs are being resorted to undauntedly ignoring the subsisting Settlements / Understandings. Click HERE to read complete article.
State Bank of India (SBI) today said it is in a position to merge one of the five associate banks in the current fiscal. "Right now we are in a position to merge one of the subsidiaries in the current fiscal. Which one will depend on the committee report. It can happen in the third or the fourth quarter," SBI Chairman Pratip Chaudhuri said. Click HERE for the full article.
State Bank of India today said it will require up to Rs 3,000 crore capital to merge one of its associate banks. SBI will need Rs 1,000-3,000 crore in capital if it were to merge one of its subsidiaries with itself, Pratip Chaudhuri said. He was speaking to shareholders at the bank's annual general meeting here. Click HERE for the complete article.
Huge costs, particularly relating to employee benefits and provisioning for non-performing assets, might delay the merger of the five associate banks with State Bank of India, sources said. According to S. Vishvanathan, Managing Director of SBI Associates and Subsidiaries division, the bank would have to fork out around Rs 10,000 crore for merger of all the associate banks with itself. The amount of capital required would depend on the size and business of the individual bank. Click HERE for full article.
State Bank of India (SBI) today said the proposed merger of its five associate banks with itself could start by September after a high-powered committee submits its report on the same. Click HERE for complete article.
State Bank of Travancore Employees’ Union on Wednesday said that it was quite unfortunate that the government and the SBI management were working day in and day out for merging the Associate Banks with the SBI. Click HERE for details.
