Standard Chartered has received in-principle approval from the International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) to distribute capital market products from GIFT City, according to reports from Reuters. The bank announced this development in an official release on August 6, with the approval paving the way for the foreign lender to launch its wealth management business from the international financial services centre. The bank expects to begin offering retail wealth management services over the next few months, marking an expansion of its retail services from GIFT City. As per Reuters, the approval enables the bank to bring Standard Chartered's global wealth management capabilities while supporting GIFT City's ambition to become a leading international financial services hub. "As clients and investors across global markets show increasing interest in GIFT City as a financial gateway to India, this approval enables us to bring our global wealth management capabilities to the ecosystem," said P D Singh, chief executive officer for India and South Asia at Standard Chartered, in a statement. The move marks the bank's first retail-focused offering from GIFT City, as foreign lenders broaden their presence beyond wholesale banking to tap India's expanding wealth management market.
Standard Chartered was the first foreign bank to commence operations at GIFT City in 2020 and currently offers lending, trade finance, transaction banking and financial markets products to corporate and institutional clients from the centre, as reported by Reuters. The bank serves more than 600 clients in GIFT City, including multinational corporations, domestic companies, financial institutions, and small and medium enterprises. According to P D Singh, chief executive officer for India and South Asia at Standard Chartered, the bank has financed more than $25 billion across products from the centre. "We have the largest client base amongst foreign banks in GIFT City," Singh said, adding that the bank also holds around half of the regional treasury centre market there and is seeing "growing interest in GIFT City as a financial gateway to India" from clients and investors globally. The bank's existing operations include services for fund management companies, foreign portfolio investors and global institutions investing in India.
Standard Chartered joins HSBC in offering wealth products via the GIFT City hub, as reported by Reuters, making it the second major foreign bank to provide wealth management services from India's tax-neutral financial centre. The lender was earlier tapped by policymakers to manage U.S. dollar clearances for a foreign currency settlement system set up in the country's tax-neutral zone. GIFT City is being promoted by the Modi government as a financial centre to rival Singapore and Dubai, with the government extending the tax holiday for firms operating there to 20 years in February and easing regulations. Earlier in the year, the finance hub also issued its first license to establish a family investment fund, marking a significant step in managing private wealth within the financial hub.
The bank has built a presence among fund management companies, foreign portfolio investors and regional treasury centres operating from GIFT City, according to Reuters reports. Standard Chartered has introduced several products in the IFSC ecosystem over the years, including offshore derivative instrument issuances, foreign portfolio investor transactions, bullion hedging solutions and receivables factoring. Over the past two years, the bank has expanded its team and product offerings at GIFT City, including corporate treasury management solutions and the foreign currency settlement system. As per The Hindu BusinessLine, the bank has undertaken several market-first initiatives in GIFT City, including ODI issuances, foreign portfolio investor transactions, bullion hedging solutions and receivables factoring. The bank has also expanded its capabilities in corporate treasury management solutions and the Foreign Currency Settlement System while strengthening its on-ground team in GIFT City.
The approval comes as GIFT City's banking ecosystem continues to expand, with the centre now hosting 37 banks, including 20 foreign lenders, while banking assets have grown more than sevenfold since 2020 to exceed $106 billion. Standard Chartered's wealth offering is among the first by a foreign bank to extend beyond wholesale banking into products aimed at individual investors. The move also coincides with rapid growth in India's wealth management industry, with Deloitte estimating assets under management will nearly double from about $1.1 trillion in FY24 to $2.3 trillion by FY29, driven by rising financial wealth and increasing participation in financial assets. GIFT IFSC entities are eligible for a 100% tax holiday for 10 consecutive years within their first 15 years of operation, along with exemptions on capital gains and interest income for non-residents, under a regulatory regime run by IFSCA as a single unified regulator rather than the multi-agency oversight of Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) and Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) on the mainland.
