The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday granted in-principle approval to Japan’s Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) to establish a wholly owned subsidiary (WOS) in India under the RBI’s setting up of wholly owned subsidiaries by Foreign Banks Guidelines, 2025. With this approval, SMBC is set to become only the third foreign bank to receive a WOS licence in India, after State Bank of Mauritius India and DBS Bank India—the latter having merged with Lakshmi Vilas Bank (LVB) in 2020, leading to LVB’s dissolution as a standalone entity.