# Kotak Private: the private bank of India's top hundred families > Kotak Private — the private bank for 60% of India's top-100 families: official entry from ₹7.5 crore RV, the in-progress Deutsche Bank India deal, DICGC protection. Last modified: 2026-10-19T00:00:00.000Z Canonical: https://wiki.private.law/en/kotak-private Publisher: wiki.private.law (https://wiki.private.law) Version: 5dbf938520f1d1d155ce730479375b48143cee912542b1211ce703b9243b327a Cite as: Kotak Private: the private bank of India's top hundred families. wiki.private.law. https://wiki.private.law/en/kotak-private. Version 5dbf938520f1d1d155ce730479375b48143cee912542b1211ce703b9243b327a. Topics: banking Jurisdictions: india, uae Functional tags: private-banking Product tags: bank, wealth-planning, investment, custody, lombard-credit, trust, family-office Semantic tags: private-banking, bank, wealth-planning, investment, custody, lombard-credit, trust, family-office --- ## Concept **Kotak Private** is the private-banking arm of Kotak Mahindra Bank, India's fourth-largest private-sector bank (BSE/NSE: KOTAKBANK). **Type**: a division of the bank with dedicated structures: discretionary and alternative mandates sit in Kotak Alternate Asset Managers, estate planning in Kotak Mahindra Trusteeship. Founder Uday Kotak personally holds ~25.7% and has been a non-executive director since 2023; private banking is led by Oisharya Das (with the group since 1994). The key event: on 30 June 2026 the bank signed the [agreement to acquire Deutsche Bank's India retail and wealth business](https://www.db.com/news/detail/20260630-kotak-mahindra-bank-to-acquire-deutsche-bank-s-retail-banking-private-banking-and-wealth-management-business-in-india?language_id=1) (~€1bn of AuM, ~150,000 clients; closing expected by September 2027 and not yet completed). ## History and evolution It began in 1985 as a bill-discounting NBFC; in 2003 it became India's first NBFC to convert into a bank under an RBI licence; in 2015 it merged with ING Vysya for $2.4bn. In 2025 it bought Standard Chartered India's personal-loan book; in June 2026 came the Deutsche Bank deal. The unit crossed $100bn of relationship value in FY2024-25 and serves 60% of India's top-100 wealthiest families; Euromoney named it India's best private bank 2026. A supervisory episode: in April 2024 the RBI barred online onboarding of new customers and new card issuance over IT-governance deficiencies; the restrictions were lifted on 12 February 2025 after remediation and an external audit; S&P upgraded the bank to BBB. > 🍓 Deposits in India are covered by the DICGC — ₹500,000 per depositor per bank including interest; deposits outside India (offshore branches) are not covered. Custody securities and fund units remain the client's property. ## Regulation - **RBI** — Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd; **SEBI** — Kotak Alternate Asset Managers (investment adviser); - **IFSCA** — the GIFT City international unit; **DFSA** — the DIFC branch (Dubai, its first overseas branch, 2016); - subsidiaries in London, Singapore, New York, Mauritius and Abu Dhabi — local supervision. ## Source of funds and compliance Standard RBI KYC; for private banking a full [source-of-funds and source-of-wealth](https://wiki.private.law/source-of-funds) file. Entry is by invitation with a payment: a new client deposits ₹50 lakh at opening. Dated episodes: the RBI's digital-onboarding ban (April 2024 — February 2025) and a ₹6.2m penalty (December 2025) over reporting breaches. > 💡 Prepare the source-of-wealth file in advance: sale of a business, dividends, inheritance. The mechanics are covered in the guide on [documenting source of funds](https://wiki.private.law/source-of-funds). ## Who it serves - **Indian residents**: officially — [Relationship Value from ₹7.5 crore plus an average yearly savings balance of ₹50 lakh](https://private.kotak.bank.in/our-offerings/all-terms.php); - **NRIs**: the same RV in currency-equivalent terms, by invitation; - **families**: family-office and estate planning through dedicated subsidiaries; - the tier below is Solitaire (from 2025) for affluent families by family RV. ## Services ### Wealth management - an open architecture; discretionary strategies Kotak Iconic (equity) and Kotak Optimus (multi-asset) — ~₹5,716 crore under management; - private markets via Kotak Alternate Asset Managers (~$5.5bn). ### Lending - [loans against securities](https://wiki.private.law/lombard-lending); at the Solitaire tier — pre-approved home loans up to ₹7.5 crore. ### Family and succession - family office, estate planning and trusts via Kotak Mahindra Trusteeship; philanthropy advisory. ### The NRI perimeter - global advice via GIFT City and the DIFC: Indian and international products for non-resident Indians. ## Entities and booking centres | Jurisdiction | Legal entity | Format and supervisor | Role for the client | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | India | Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd + KAAML + Trusteeship | RBI / SEBI | domestic market: ~2,100 bank branches | | UAE | DIFC branch | DFSA (since 2016) | NRI and international advice | | India (GIFT City) | International Banking Unit | IFSCA | offshore products for NRIs | | UK / Singapore / US | Kotak Mahindra (UK) Ltd and others | local supervision | global coverage of the Indian diaspora | ## Strengths - officially published entry criteria — rare for India; - 60% of the country's top-100 families as clients; - in-house alternatives and trustee capabilities inside the group; - scale effects from the Deutsche Bank India deal (in progress). ## Where it does not fit - clients outside the India logic: the model is built on residents and NRIs; - those awaiting the Deutsche Bank deal's closing — until September 2027 they are two different banks; - fortunes below ₹7.5 crore RV (below that, Solitaire/premier formats); - clients sensitive to the 2024 RBI episode (lifted in February 2025). Kotak Private is the Indian house for the top hundred families, with an honest threshold and a live Deutsche Bank deal; for a non-resident without an India link this is not the right perimeter. ## Q/A ### Entry and geography ### What minimum capital does Kotak Private require? Officially: a Relationship Value of ₹7.5 crore (~$900k) plus an average yearly savings balance of ₹50 lakh; a new client deposits ₹50 lakh at opening. The NRI variant is the same RV in currency equivalent, by invitation. Below that sits the Solitaire programme on family RV. ### What will the Deutsche Bank India purchase bring? The agreement was signed on 30 June 2026: ~€1bn of assets under management, ~150,000 clients and 16 branches for ~₹282 crore plus payment for the net funding position. Closing is expected by September 2027 after approvals — until then they are two different banks, and Deutsche Bank India clients need not change anything. ### What does deposit insurance cover? The DICGC — ₹500,000 per depositor per bank including interest; offshore deposits outside India are not covered. Securities and fund units remain the client's property. ### Supervisory backdrop ### What was the 2024 RBI ban? April 2024: a ban on online onboarding of new customers and new card issuance over IT-governance deficiencies. The restrictions were lifted on 12 February 2025 after remediation and an external audit; S&P upgraded the bank to BBB at the same time. Client assets were unaffected. ### Does the founder run the bank? Uday Kotak stepped down as MD & CEO on 1 September 2023 and remains a non-executive director with a personal stake of ~25.7%. From 1 January 2027 the bank will be led by Anup Kumar Saha (formerly of Bajaj Finance), approved by the RBI. --- ## Similar articles - [British Atlantic Bank (NodaBank): Accounts, Deposits and Lending](https://wiki.private.law/en/nodabank) - [HDFC Bank Private Banking: India's largest private bank](https://wiki.private.law/en/hdfc-private-banking) - [ICICI Private Banking: India's most international private bank](https://wiki.private.law/en/icici-private-banking) - [SBI Wealth: wealth management at India's largest bank](https://wiki.private.law/en/sbi-private) - [Deutsche Bank Private Bank: private banking inside a universal group](https://wiki.private.law/en/deutsche-bank-private-bank) - [Axis Bank Burgundy Private: India's third-largest private bank's HNW platform](https://wiki.private.law/en/axis-private) --- Source: wiki.private.law — the private.law legal knowledge base. When quoting, cite the canonical page URL. Consultation with a lawyer: https://t.me/private_law_bot