The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has approved Kotak Mahindra Bank’s proposed acquisition of Deutsche Bank’s retail banking, private banking and wealth management businesses in India, advancing a transaction agreed by the two lenders in June 2026.
The clearance, announced on 3 November 2026, covers the identified businesses operated through the German lender’s Indian branches, along with related transactions. It does not mark completion of the acquisition.
What the acquisition covers
According to the regulator, Kotak will acquire the businesses as a going concern through a slump sale, transferring the identified operations as a business undertaking.
The retail and private banking operations offer deposits, lending, investment products, insurance and foreign exchange services. The wealth management business serves high-net-worth individuals.
The proposed arrangements also envisage referrals of customers from the investment advisory and portfolio management services businesses of Deutsche Investments India Private Limited to relevant wholly owned Kotak subsidiaries. Deutsche Investments India is an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Deutsche Bank.
Loans, deposits and customer relationships
When the agreement was announced in June, the banks said the business comprised approximately ₹29,000 crore in loans, ₹16,000 crore in deposits and ₹10,500 crore in assets under management. It served around 150,000 customers through a team of approximately 1,000 employees.
Around 1,000 Deutsche Bank employees in India are expected to join Kotak as part of the transaction, according to the announcement.
At the time, Ashok Vaswani, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Kotak Mahindra Bank, said the acquisition aligned with the lender’s focus on affluent customers and small and medium enterprises. He identified integration and continuity of customer service as priorities.
Transfer expected in 2027
Deutsche Bank’s customer guidance currently places the expected effective date of the transfer in the third quarter of the 2027 calendar year, covering July to September. Completion remains subject to the necessary regulatory approvals and other closing conditions.
The bank has begun seeking customer consent where required for the transfer of relationships and associated data. Customers are to be informed of the effective date closer to completion.
A change in Deutsche Bank’s India business portfolio
The transaction concerns specified banking and wealth management operations rather than Deutsche Bank’s entire presence in India.
In its interim report for the first half of 2026, Deutsche Bank described the sale as part of a strategy to concentrate its portfolio on businesses where it has scale and competitive strengths. The report also linked the divestment to its continued focus on serving global ultra-high-net-worth clients, including non-resident Indians, outside India.
For India–Germany business coverage, the development marks a change in the ownership of a German bank’s established Indian customer business. For Kotak, the proposed acquisition would add lending, deposits and wealth management relationships once the transfer is completed.
