CALCUTTA, February 6: Calcutta-based foreign exchange brokers will soon seek a meeting with State Bank of India chairman M S Verma in connection with the bank's move to shift its forex department from here to Mumbai.Representatives of Calcutta Exchange Brokers' Association, an affiliate of Foreign Exchange Dealers Association of India (FEDAI), told reporters here today that there was no justification for shifting SBI's foreign exchange unit as Calcutta had the˙right infrastructure and trained manpower.
The brokers alleged the move, which was thwarted once before, was the brainchild of the ``Mumbai lobby'' and a section of bureaucrats seeking centralisation of financial activities in Mumbai.
Criticising the SBI decision, the foreign˙ brokers said that if the foreign department was shifted to Mumbai, then covering operations in the entire eastern region would come to a halt as the city brokers would not be able to give competitive rates.
The SBI management has apparently cited the report ofinternational consultancy firm McKinsey which stated that the bank needed to integrate its treasury and foreign exchange operations. Earlier, the premier nationalised bank had shifted its treasury department from here to Mumbai.
EEB adds: SBI Staff Association, which is opposing the management move, has roped in political heavyweights like Somnath Chatterjee to orchestrate the campaign. According to Writers' Building sources in Calcutta, a delegation of the association met state finance minister Asim Dasgupta on Tuesday.
Dasgupta reportedly expressed his concern about the State Bank management's move. "At a time when things are looking up on the industrial front in West Bengal, we cannot support the State Bank management's move. The chief minister has already expressed his concern about this development to prime minister I K Gujral. He will again write to the prime minister and the governor of the Reserve Bank of India," Dasgupta reportedly told the delegation of the association.
According to SomnathChatterjee, CPI(M) member of the Rajya Sabha, the industrial lobby in western India is working behind the scenes to transfer the forex dealing room from Calcutta to Mumbai. The association wants the SBI management "to consider the feasibility of transferring the treasury and investment departments from Mumbai to Calcutta" instead of shifting the foreign department to Mumbai.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
