India Post News Service

SANTA CLARA: The Managing Director of ICICI Securities Ltd. India, Subrata Mukherji and the President & CEO of ICICI Securities Inc. USA, Gopakumar hosted a dinner to commemorate the opening of their Bay Area office, on May 3 at the Hyatt Regency in Santa Clara, CA. Besides Mukherji and Gopakumar, Atul Sharma, the Regional Head, was also present. They talked to Bay Area movers and shakers at the exclusive function where they showcased ICICI Securities and its parent organization, the ICICI Group.

The ICICI Group was founded over 50 years ago at the initiative of the World Bank, Indian Government and representatives of Indian industry. They are one of the market leaders in Investment Banking, private sector life and general insurance, asset management, consumer credit, private equity and venture capital.

As of March 31, 2006 ICICI Bank was the largest private sector bank with balance sheet strength of about US$ 56 billion and over 17 million retail customer accounts. It is listed both on NYSE and Indian Stock Exchanges. ICICI Securities Ltd., India is the investment banking arm of ICICI Bank. It is a top tier player in each of its businesses - Equities, Fixed Income, Investment Banking/M&A. ICICI Securities, India has managed some of the most prestigious public equity offerings and landmark transactions in India. ICICI Securities Inc., USA is a subsidiary of ICICI Securities Ltd. It is a NASD registered broker dealer and is also registered with the Financial Services Authority, UK (FSA) and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to conduct equity & corporate finance business.

Its key business lines include Equities (Institutional equity sales, ADR/GDR underwriting and syndication), Corporate Finance (Indo-US cross border transactions) and Wealth Management (Provide investment & wealth management solutions to expatriate Indians and leverage India and overseas presence to offer the best of both worlds to NRI clients) According to them, what sets them apart from others/ key differentiators is their strong parentage (as part of the well known financial powerhouse, the ICICI Group); they know India well (corporate & investment banking, asset management, retail banking, rural banking and insurance businesses) and have strong investment expertise across asset classes (manages / advises investments across fixed income, equity, private equity, real estate & derivatives to all categories of investors).

Their business model is client focused and they are able to draw on the group's expertise to benefit clients. Prudential ICICI AMC (Asset Management Company) is India's largest AMC with AUM (Assets Under Management) of US$ 8.5 billion as of May 31, 2006. ICICI Ventures is India's largest private equity and VC funds manager with funds under management of over US$ 1.4 billion. Products offered by ICICI Securities Inc., USA include India dedicated Private Equity funds, India dedicated Real Estate Funds, PIPE funds, Mutual Funds, Unit Investment Trusts, Variable Annuities, Structured Products and Certificate of Deposits.