New Delhi, Jan. 14 -- The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Wednesday said it has decided to allow Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. (SMBC) to operate a wholly-owned arm in India, four months after the Japanese financial services giant acquired nearly a quarter of private lender Yes Bank.

RBI said that Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. currently has operations in India in branch mode from its offices in New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Bengaluru.

The central bank "has decided to grant 'in-principle' approval to [SMBC] for setting up a Wholly Owned Subsidiary (WOS) in India, under the Reserve Bank of India (Setting Up of Wholly Owned Subsidiaries by Foreign Banks) Guidelines, 2025," according to an RBI statement.

The 'in-principle' approval will all...