Standard Chartered to offer wealth products in India’s GIFT City finance hub

MUMBAI: Standard Chartered has received in-principle approval to offer wealth management products to clients from India’s tax-neutral financial hub, Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City), the bank said in a statement on Thursday.

The International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA), the regulator for the international financial services hub, granted the in-principle approval, and Standard Chartered expects to roll out its retail wealth management offerings over the next few months. “Building on our deep roots in the GIFT City ecosystem, this distribution approval enables us to bring Standard Chartered’s global wealth management capabilities, while supporting GIFT City’s ambition to become a leading international financial services centre,” P D Singh, CEO, India and South Asia, Standard Chartered, said in the statement.

Standard Chartered, the first foreign bank to commence operations in GIFT in 2020, joins HSBC in offering wealth products via the hub. The lender was earlier tapped by policymakers to manage US 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.

In February, the government extended the tax holiday for firms operating there to 20 years and regulations have also been eased. 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.