India’s banking regulator may adopt a set of rules this year, which will allow foreign banks to increase their retail presence in the country, The Wall Street Journal reports. At present, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) provides a total of 12 new branch licenses annually for all of the 34 foreign banks present in India, as well as for any new entrants.

As per the proposed rules, foreign banks operating in India will have to turn their local operations into wholly owned subsidiaries of the parent company, meaning the Indian subsidiaries will be required to have their own capital. The banks that are expected to be the most affected by the new regulation are Standard Chartered, Citigroup and HSBC.

Click here for the story from The Wall Street Journal.