United Bank gets SEBI nod for independent directors' appointment

Kolkata, Feb 19 (IANS) Public sector United Bank of India (UBI) has received exemption from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) for appointment of independent directors before its initial public offering (IPO) of shares, a senior bank official said here Friday.

"We had explained to SEBI that it might take some time before we fulfill the quota of independent directors and have given an undertaking that we will keep them informed as and when we appoint them," executive director T.M. Bhasin said at a press meet.

The city-based bank is all set to come up with an IPO of 50 million equity shares of face value of Rs.10 each. The IPO opens Feb 23 and closes Feb 25.

UBI has seven directors of whom two are independent against the norm of 50 percent of board strength.

"We have to recruit two more directors and one shareholders' representative into the board," Bhasin said.

Talking about its foreign operations, he said the bank Feb 3 has set up a representative office in Bangladesh keeping in view the increasing trade between the eastern and north eastern region of the country with Bangladesh.

"We plan to upgrade the Bangladesh office into a branch in six months," he said.

The bank has tie up with four government banks in Myanmar. It plans to set up a representative office in Myanmar soon.