With the permission of Reserve Bank, all 11 branches –10 at Mumbai & one at Satara of The Sahebrao Deshmukh Co-operative Bank (SDC Bank) are operational for banking services as branches of The Cosmos Co-operative Bank Ltd, says a press release from the Cosmos Cooperative Bank
Simultaneously, in a release RBI stated “The Reserve Bank of India has sanctioned the Scheme of Amalgamation of The Sahebrao Deshmukh Co-operative Bank Ltd., Mumbai, Maharashtra with The Cosmos Co-operative Bank Limited, Pune, Maharashtra.”
The release further read “The Scheme will come into force with effect from September 26, 2023. The branches of The Sahebrao Deshmukh Co-operative Bank Ltd., Mumbai (Maharashtra) will function as branches of The Cosmos Co-operative Bank Limited, Pune (Maharashtra) with effect from September 26, 2023.”
These customers will now receive all the latest facilities and services of Cosmos Bank, stated Bank’s Chairman, CA. Milind Kale. Being the oldest UCB, Cosmos Bank is headquartered in Pune and has operations spread across states.
Explaining in detail about the merger, CA. Kale informed that with this merger the deposits of Rs. 143.40 Crore belonging to depositors are now secure. The total business of The Sahebrao Deshmukh Co-operative Bank is Rs. 227.54 Crore.
CA. Kale further informed that “with the voluntary merger of Sahebrao Deshmukh Co-operative Bank into Cosmos Bank, we have merged 18 small banks up till now. Funds of millions of depositors have been secured.
Kale also said that the Cosmos Bank’s financial foundation is very strong with its business set-up of more than Rs. 31660 Crore as of today. For the Financial Year ending in March 2023, Bank has earned net profit of Rs. 151 Crore & Bank has distributed 8% dividend to its Shareholders, he added.
Kale is, however, aware that Bank’s Share Capital and Own Funds are more than Rs. 2000 Crore and due to severe competition, it has become difficult for small cooperative banks to sustain.
“In this scenario, upholding the ethos of the cooperative sector, Cosmos Bank, has assured depositors of the security of their funds in cooperative banks. Thus, Cosmos Bank, being the oldest Bank in the cooperative sector, has taken responsibility to offer strong support to banks in distress”, assured Kale who has also joined the Board of COBI.
With this merger Cosmos Bank now has 50 branches in Mumbai with a total of 170 branches in 7 states across India, read a release from the Cosmos Bank.