Going by the information forwarded by the Economic Times in its Monday report, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has given its approval to Britain's Standard Chartered (StanChart) bank for its offering of Indian Depository Receipts (IDRs), subject to certain conditions.

As per the terms accompanying the RBI approval, a maximum of 5 percent of StanChart's capital can be raised under one IDR issue. Furthermore, the bank will not be allowed to accept subscriptions from investors who borrow money for the purpose of investing in the proposed offering.

Noting that StanChart intends raising nearly $500 million from the issue, the paper also reported that the bank will likely take a call on whether to launch the offer this financial year ending March
2010 or postpone it till the next fiscal.

There are indications that StanChart may hit the market by December this year; and, in that case, it will face a stiff deadline for the completion of its documents and road show.

In a statement to Reuters, a StanChart spokesman said: "Standard Chartered is very interested in the possibility of issuing and listing IDRs in India in the future. Once we are in a position to proceed, a decision will be based on market conditions and other considerations and we would make an announcement in the usual way in accordance with our listing obligations."