State Bank of India has evacuated 64 employees from West Asia to Mumbai over the past few days as the country’s largest lender activated a business continuity plan in response to the escalating war in Iran.
SBI obtained approvals from local regulators to temporarily manage its operations in three countries from India, two people aware of the matter said. Only minimal on-ground presence has been maintained in these locations to comply with regulatory requirements.
“People have shifted to India after regulators permitted it. These include staff from Bahrain, the UAE and Israel. Except for some skeleton services run by local staff, the bank is functioning from India,” the first person said. “Some three-four local staff are there since regulators want some presence there.”
SBI has six branches and representative offices in the UAE, Bahrain, Israel and Oman. The second person said the Oman office has four staff members who remain there. The person said the evacuated staff will work from an office set up in Mumbai.
“We had some 8-10 people in each office, not more than that, and these people have come back in the past 3-4 days,” the first person said.
The person said that once regulatory approvals are secured, operations can typically be shifted within a week. However, in this case, the process took longer, with approvals coming through after about 10 days as the situation worsened. The regulators allowed the transition but stressed that uninterrupted customer service must be maintained, the first person said.
With corporate internet banking and other online systems in place, activities are continuing from India instead of the overseas locations. The return of the staffers to West Asia remains uncertain because of the ongoing conflict.
Attacks by the US and Israel against Iran started on 28 February, prompting Tehran to retaliate with attacks on US military bases in the region.
Overseas loan portfolio
The UAE and Bahrain contribute 7% and 8%, respectively, of SBI’s international loan portfolio. Of SBI’s total loan book of ₹46 trillion as of December end, the international credit book was at ₹6.9 trillion, up 13% on year.
External commercial borrowings, local credit and trade finance business are the major drivers of customer credit and the major contributions to growth come from the bank’s branches in the US, GIFT City, West Asia and East Asia.
Experts said measures such as remote working, staff recall to core locations and enhanced monitoring frameworks are part of a well-tested resilience strategy.
“Importantly, banks are also guided by comprehensive regulatory frameworks and advisories issued from time to time, which mandate preparedness for such contingencies and ensure systemic stability,” said Prakash Agarwal, a partner at debt market advisory firm Gefion Capital Advisors.
Agarwal said the objective is not just to mitigate risk but to also ensure that customer services, payment systems and treasury operations continue seamlessly even under uncertain conditions. Other Indian banks have adopted varying approaches, depending on their presence in the region.
Work options
At Federal Bank, which operates representative offices in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, employees have largely been given the flexibility to work from home.
“We have given them work-from-home options and they take the call… Many of them didn’t want to come back because they have families over there. It's a mixed bag, but we have given very clear instructions,” a senior executive at the bank said.
Federal Bank, which has a large non-residential Indian deposit base, has about a dozen employees in these representative offices, which offer more staffing flexibility than regular branches.
“So that's the advantage, compared to branches, which we don't have. It's only a facilitator and from that extent, it doesn't make a difference,” the executive said, adding that some foreign banks have opted for full relocation of staff.
Emails sent to SBI and Federal Bank did not elicit any response on the matter till press time.
Global banks in the region including Standard Chartered, Citibank, JPMorgan Chase and HSBC are said to have taken precautionary measures, including relocating staff or scaling down on-ground operations.
These banks have asked employees to relocate temporarily, offered remote working options or reduced physical office presence in key West Asian hubs as part of broader risk management and business continuity strategies.
–With inputs from Shayan Ghosh
