The bank's chairman & managing director KC Chowdhary and SHCIL managing director BV Goud, who had specially flew in here for the occasion, assured the broking community and retail investors of the continued co-operation and best customer service. Chowdhary recalled that Central Bank's association with ASE was more than six decades old.

Central Bank, which had earlier provided a temporary `extension counter' of its Gandhi Road branch at the ASE's new premises at Kamdhenu complex, was also converted into a `full-fledged branch' from Thursday. The bank had opened the extension counter seven months back when the ASE was shifted from the 100-year-old building in the walled city to the new spacious premises.

Later in the afternoon,Chowdhary launched a unique `trader friendly scheme' for the first time in Ahmedabad for providing advances up to Rs 10 lakh to traders. The scheme was suggested by Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) in January last. The scheme would be initially available only at Central Bank's Ashram Road and Paldi branches.

Meanwhile, The Reserve Bank has allowed investments by Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) in government securities through Subsidiary General Ledger (SGL) accounts of depositories, reports PTI. FIIs can now make investments in government dated securities and treasury bills through depositories such as Stock Holding Corporation of India ltd (SHICL) and National Securities Depository Ltd (NSDL).