The largest private sector lender of the country, ICICI Bank has lowered the pace of deposit growth from foreign markets. It has decided to focus on growth of deposits from local grounds.

"We are hardly growing retail deposits in these markets. While we are getting a lot of deposits, we are not taking that many because we cannot use these funds to lend to Indian companies. The growth in our international operations is now coming from the wholesale side," said CEO and MD of the bank, Ms Chanda Kochhar.

The bank had previously set up subsidiaries in foreign countries like United Kingdom and Canada so as to raise deposits from there and aid Indian companies with it.

"Global regulators were okay with that approach, and that's how we started that business. But after 2008, due to the global uncertainty, regulators changed their approach. Their worry is not particularly on Indian exposure. They are worried about co-mingling the risks of two countries," Kochhar said.

With the global economic meltdown, exposure to foreign risks has become a threat for all regulators and ICICI Bank stands no different in that.