Singapore's regulatory body approves HDFC Bank to acquire shares in Griha Pte

Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC) on Monday informed that HDFC Bank has received an approval from Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to acquire 20 percent or more of shares in HDFC Investments-subsidiary Griha Pte. Limited.

Griha Pte. is a foreign step-down subsidiary of HDFC Limited. According to the official press release, on April 4, 2022 HDFC Ltd board had approved the said scheme while it had also received no-objection or approval letters from Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), Competition Commission of India (CCI) and National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), Mumbai bench.

On the merger front, recently, on April 21, RBI had provided certain clarification for over requests and said that for Priority Sector Lending (PSL) adjusted net bank credit calculation considering 1/3rd of O/S loans of bank on effective merger date for 1st year. The remaining 2/3rd of HDFC Ltd to be considered over next 2 years equally.

The clarification further added that investments including arms and associates of HDFC Ltd can continue as investments of HDFC Bank. The central bank had also permitted HDFCs to up stake to over 50 percent in HDFC Life before effective date.

The shares of HDFC Ltd ended more than 1 percent higher at Rs 2,787.6 while HDFC Bank were up 1 percent at Rs 1,688.