The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) is willing to offer two Indian banks, State Bank of India(SBI) and ICICI Bank the status of qualifying full bank (QFB), which will empower them to raise retail deposits and operate at 25 centres in Singapore, reports Business Standard.

This is the first time Indian banks have been given QFB status in Singapore,after the Comprehensive Economic Co-operation Agreement (CECA) signed last year between India and Singapore, that outlined that three Indian banks would be given QFB status.

Indian banks were unable to kick off full-fledged banking activities in Singapore, as MAS had been insisting on ratings as a pre-condition for offering QFB status to Indian banks.

CECA however does not provide automatic entry into Singapore. The Singapore government works in tandem with the RBI to review applications of banks that wish to acquire QFB. At present, eight Indian banks are licensed to operate in Singapore.

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