The State Bank of India (SBI) has terminated the lease of its Global Markets Unit (GMU) premises in Kolkata, triggering objections from a civil society forum that has called on the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to step in and prevent any closure of the unit without regulatory clearance. SBI had been operating its GMU and certain international operations from the Jeevan Sudha Building. In a representation submitted in the second week of January and addressed to RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra, BBDBM urged the central bank not to permit the surrender of the banking licence of GMU Kolkata. The forum said any closure without explicit regulatory approval would “pre-empt” the RBI’s statutory authority and undermine the regulatory process. The GMU and the Centralised Global Back Office (CGBO) were set up in Kolkata in 2015 during the tenure of former SBI chairperson Arundhati Bhattacharya.

Source: The Telegraph January 17, 2026 11:37 UTC