Thursday, September 8 2005 15:07 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: British financial conglomerate Barclays today (Sept 8,2005) said it was open to hike stake in UTI Bank from the present 4.9 per cent when the rules of the land permits it to do so.

"We have 4.9 per cent stake in UTI Bank and would like to increase it," Barclays Capital Vice-Chairman Sir David Wright said but added, "it would depend on the rules and price."

Speaking at the India-EU summit, he said, "We regret the fact that foreign banks are not allowed to pick up majority stake in Indian banks." Earlier, HSBC attempted to buy about 14 per cent stake in UTI Bank but it was not permitted to do so.

At present, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) limit in private banks is at 74 per cent but foreign banks are not allowed to hike stake beyond 5 per cent annually.

Barclays, which has assets worth over 800 billion dollars in about 60 countries, also plans to expand its investment banking activities in India.

"We want to expand our investment banking activities especially in risk management and financing," Wright said.

Barclays was one of the leading banks, which helped HDFC raise 500 million dollars in foreign currency convertible bonds, one of the biggest FCCB issues in Asia in recent times.