ICICI's special offering for NRIs

ICICI Bank on Friday tied up with Europe's financial powerhouse Fortis for offering asset and wealth management, estate planning and corporate services to Non-Resident Indians worldwide.

With the non-equity strategic tie up with Fortis' private banking arm MeesPierson, ICICI Bank became the first Indian bank to offer global wealth management solutions to its clients in India and abroad.

"This association provides us with an opportunity to complement our product suite for our high net worth clients and to provide them with holistic wealth management solutions," ICICI Bank's head of international banking group, Bhargav Dasgupta said in a statement.

MeesPierson, which manages assets worth 55 billion Euro worldwide and has operations in 24 countries, will soon chart detailed operational plan with ICICI Bank to cater to NRIs and high net worth clients worldwide.

Belgium-based Fortis will also gain by getting ICICI's expertise in offering investment opportunities in Indian equity, debt, real estate and private equity to its clients.

The alliance would enable ICICI Bank to offer clients the facility to set up and manage trusts in countries like the United Kingdom, Singapore, Hong Kong, New Zealand and Isle of Man.

ICICI Bank, India's second largest bank with Rs 1,63,400 crore (Rs 1,634 billion) in assets, has presence in the United States, UK, Canada, China, the United Arab Emirates, South Africa, Singapore and Bahrain.

It also has ties with Lloyds Bank in the UK, Emirates Bank in the UAE and Commercial Bank of Qatar for offering bundled local and Indian products to its clients. The bank also has a truck with Well Fargo in the US, Bank of Montreal in Canada and DBS in Singapore for remittance business.