SBI and IOCL reach an important milestone in LIBOR transition with a USD 100 million deal for 5 years
First SOFR linked deal in the External Commercial Borrowing (ECB) market
Mumbai – 17th March 2021: Country’s largest commercial bank, State Bank of India (SBI) has been awarded the mandate for the first SOFR (Secured Overnight Financing Rate) linked ECB deal by Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL). SOFR is an identified replacement for USD LIBOR which is expected to be phased out at the end of 2021. The sunset has been triggered by the decision of Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in UK not to compel contributing banks for LIBOR calculation after December 2021.
On this occasion, Deputy Managing Director (International Banking Group), Shri C Venkat Nageswar, said, “It is the first SOFR deal in the ECB space and the transaction demonstrates SBI’s position as a leader in aligning its systems and processes to embrace Alternate Reference Rates (ARRs). IOCL, the largest public sector Oil Marketing Company in India, by availing the first SOFR linked ECB, will set the pace for smooth transition by Indian Corporates to ARR mechanism.”
Mr Sandeep Kumar Gupta, Director (Finance), IOCL said, “This is a first step, albeit an important one, in our quest to gear up for the impending transition from LIBOR to Alternate Reference Rates. This will also facilitate in efficiently tapping the funding opportunities provided by the ECB market in future.”
About State Bank of India:State Bank of India is the largest commercial bank in terms of assets, deposits, branches, customers, and employees. It is also the largest mortgage lender in the country. The home loan portfolio of the bank has crossed the milestone of Rs. 5 lakh crore. As on December 31, 2020, the bank has a deposit base of over Rs. 35 lakh crore and advances of more than Rs. 26 lakh crore with CASA ratio of about 45%. SBI commands over 34% market share in home loans and around 33% in the auto loans segment. The Bank has largest network of more than 22,000 branches in India with an ATM / CDM network of nearly 58,000 and total BC outlets of over 71,000. The number of customers using internet banking and mobile banking stand at 85 million and 19 million respectively. The integrated digital and lifestyle platform by SBI – YONO has crossed 74 million downloads mark. YONO which has over 34.5 million registered users, witnesses 9 million logins per day. Accelerating the digital agenda, SBI has opened over 1.5 million accounts through YONO in the quarter ended December 2020 with nearly 91% of YONO eligible savings bank customers migrated on YONO. In terms of digital lending, bank disbursed pre-approved personal loan (PAPL) worth Rs. 5300 crore via YONO in the same quarter. YONO is also a global name having tasted its success in international markets as well. On social media platforms, SBI has the highest number of followers on Facebook and Twitter amongst all banks worldwide.
