As a part of RBS business plan to decrease its footprint in India and concentrate on domestic market, negotiations for the HSBC-RBS deal begun in 2010 and was originally scheduled to be complete by September 2011, as reported by the Business Standard.
The deal faced delays as RBI rejected HSBC’s acquisition of RBS branches and ordered surrender of branch licenses while allowing to takeover its business in India.
According to the central bank’s approval, RBS will retain eight of its 31 branches in India while HSBC will acquire 23 RBS branches bringing its total branch count in India to 73 from 50.
HSBC said that the deal would not complete in a year and would stretch with acquisition of seven to eight branches each year.
RBS said in a statement, "We continue to work closely with HSBC and the regulators to complete the deal in a manner that satisfies regulatory requirements and is in the best interests of our clients and employees."
