Washington: The Federal Reserve Bank, the banking regulator, which gives permission to foreign banks for setting up their branches in the USA, has given its nod to the State Bank of India for opening a branch in New York.

State Bank of India (SBI) had applied to the Federal Reserve Bank for a license to open the branch. Nearly three months ago, another private sector bank from India, ICICI bank had got the Fed’s permission to open a branch at New York.

The proposed branch will be set up at Jackson Heights and will offer a wide range of products and services. Deposit accounts, remittance services, investment advisory services, trade related services and small business loans will be highlights of the offerings from this branch.

SBI-US as the bank’s presence in USA is popularly called is one of the best links to India, with a network of more than 13000 branches SBI and its associate banks. SBI presently has a presence in more than 32 countries is one of the Indian banks with large overseas presence.