Charting a new course

Mumbai, May 24: Unfazed by the bear phase in stock markets, ABN Amro today unveiled retail broking services in India.

The Dutch bank has launched ABN Amro Broking and plans to enter commodity futures trading at a later date.

The broking service will be available in all markets in the country where ABN Amro is present and at key stock trading centres, the bank said.

ABN Amro Broking will offer customers the convenience of a one-stop broking service ? from research-based advice to execution of transactions across multiple product offerings and multiple delivery channels.

Private banks like ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and Kotak Mahindra currently offer retail broking services. Many foreign banks are likely to enter the retail broking space in the near future.

ABN Amro Broking was launched under the aegis of ABN Amro Asia Equities (India), which currently does broking for institutional investors.

The India research team of ABN Amro Asia Equities covers over 80 companies, comprising more than 75 per cent of the BSE market capitalisation.

Announcing the launch, Jeroen Drost, chief executive officer of ABN Amro Asia, said, “We are delighted to be the first international bank to bring its global investment expertise to the domestic retail brokerage market in India. We are confident that our unique offering will provide clients with an innovative and convenient trading experience that is designed to meet their needs.”

According to Romesh Sobti, country executive of ABN Amro India, “Robust activities in the country’s capital market have resulted in an increased interest by the retail investor. We offer investor the benefits of a 3-in-1 trading, demat and savings bank account as well as access to multiple trading channels.”

The technology platform for ABN Amro Broking has been developed by TCS. It is designed as an integrated front office, risk management, back office, accounts and billing system.

Apart from offering Internet trading facility with online trade confirmations, mobile trading facility with SMS alerts, direct connectivity with the BSE, NSE and interface with their settlement systems, the platform also provides interfaces with the bank operating platforms to bring to clients a seamless trading experience.