Punjab National Bank (Int) Ltd. opens its first branch in Leicester

Company Brief

Mumbai, January 29, 2009

Punjab National Bank (International) Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of PNB, has announced the opening of its first branch in Leicester city in the British Midlands region of the UK. The new branch was officially inaugurated by the Right Worshipful Lord Mayor of Leicester, Councillor Manjula Sood and will directly create five new jobs initially.

The new British Midlands-based Leicester branch will be the first of a number of new openings for PNBIL in 2009 with braches expected to open in Birmingham, Manchester, Wolverhampton and London shortly in addition to their existing branches in Southall and London City. The opening will simultaneously occur with the launch of the Bank’s UK Debit Card on that will work free of charge in 70,000 ATMs and a million POS systems in the UK.

Punjab National Bank was strongly supported in its move to Leicester by Invest Leicestershire and the British Midlands India Business Bureau, who helped with property searches to find a suitable location for the new branch.

Chandrika Shah, Country Representative, British Midlands, said: “It is inspiring to see a leading Indian bank like Punjab National Bank expand its presence into the British Midlands region which is already home to several Indian banks like ICICI Bank, SBI, Bank of Baroda etc. The British Midlands region offers an unbeatable business proposition to Indian companies in terms of support offered. We are confident that the bank will prove to be successful in Leicester and will expand its presence further into our region.”

Dr KC Chakrabarty, Chief Managing Director of Punjab National Bank commented: “The UK market represents an excellent opportunity for Punjab National Bank and Leicester, with its large Asian population, made it an ideal location for the first of our branch openings in 2009. With several new products and services due to be launched by the Bank shortly, we are confident that our UK presence will continue to grow.

Madanjit Singh, Managing Director of PNB (International) Ltd said “Our bank is offering free and instant remittance to any PNB branch in India, free international Debit Card, internet banking, attractive rates of interest on Deposits.”

The British Midlands has always been receptive to Indian companies in the region with over 50 Indian companies already present and this is expected to double in the next few years with the strengthening of business ties between India and the UK.

For further information, please contact:

Corporate VoiceIWeber Shandwick

Shruti Naik

Telephone: 022 - 40311216

Email: shruti@corvoshandwick.co.in