BBVA's Indian MF foray may happen only in next fiscal

MUMBAI: The Indian mutual funds foray of Spanish financial services major, BBVA, is likely to get delayed till next fiscal as the company is yet to find a suitable domestic partner for the venture.

BBVA, amongst the largest in the world, has approached a few leading public sector banks in the country for a possible tie-up for its MF business.

However, the bank is yet to receive any favourable response from them, a BBVA official told PTI here on strict condition of anonymity.

"We are yet to find a suitable partner here (for the MF business). Though big in size and present pan-India, Indian banks are lacking in product knowledge, effective risk managment tools and international market knowledge," the official said.

The Spanish lender had entered India in April last year by opening a liaison office in Mumbai and already has an exposure of over USD 1-billion to Indian corporates.

Though BBVA had approached leading public sector lender, Union Bank of India for a potential partnership, UBI is understood to have zeroed in on Beligium-based KBC as its partner.

BBVA's Asia General Manager, Manuel Galatas, during an interaction with PTI sometime ago, had said that the bank had initiated talks with two more state-run banks for the mutual funds business.

Though Galatas declined to identify them, the banks are understood to be Bank of India and Corporation Bank.