The Bank of Baroda (BOB) is opening in New Zealand.

India’s third largest bank, the Bank of Baroda, has announced that they will establish a commercial banking wing in New Zealand, with the initial branch being penned for Auckland. It is understood that the bank aims to function as a subsidiary company. Governance will be held by a mix of both local and overseas directors and that a senior executive has already been appointed to head the Auckland branch.

The now retired chairman and director of the Bank of Baroda, Dr Anil Kumar Khandelwal, said in an interview that the expansion into New Zealand was part of the bank’s “Look East Policy”, which sees it expanding and interacting more with other ASEAN nations. He went on to say that the bank has plans to expand into Canada, Kuwait, Mozambique, Qatar, Russia and Saudi Arabia.