Four banks including RBL and Bank of Maharashtra line up overseas fund raise

and (BoM) are among those in the final stages of marketing their dollar bonds abroad.

People familiar with the development told ET that the above mentioned lenders are part of at least four banks planning to raise funds from abroad, as they adjust asset-liability positions after the conclusion of the FCNR (B) window,

Swapping short-term loans with a tenure matching the FCNR (B) deposits will help the banks tide over temporary asset liability mismatches.

“RBL and BoM are both seeking 5-year funds. They may raise between $300 million to $500 million each. Both these banks have done their road shows and announced the marketing of these bonds. If market conditions are right, they may price as early as this week,” said a person aware of the details.

RBL has established a $1 billion (MTN) programme while BoM has activated a $500 million MTN in the last few days, allowing them to tap the overseas market whenever things are conducive. The dollar bonds will be the first bond sale for both these lenders. Spokespersons at both the banks did not reply to separate emails seeking comment.

In the documents filed with Gift City for fund raise, BoM has said that proceeds will be used to ‘meet funding requirements of bank’s foreign offices or branches’ and ‘general purposes’ in line with RBI’s regulations.

Last month several banks raised short term loans to provide leverage to their NRI clients which ultimately resulted in total FCBN (B) deposits of $127 billion. The concessional window ended on August 31.

Two other public sector lenders, and (BoI), have also taken board approval for raising $1 billion through separate MTN programmes. But both these lenders are still a little behind as they are yet to gauge investor sentiment for these issues. BoI has announced a non deal roadshow starting in Hong Kong on Wednesday, in preparation for the issue of these bonds.