BNP Paribas Securities Services has been granted a license by the Securities and Exchange Board of India to provide custody services.

The license allows the financial services firm to offer local custody operations in the Indian market in addition to the listed derivatives clearing services it already provides from its Mumbai branch, the company said in a statement.

The move is part of its strategic development in the South Asian country, where it most recently partnered with Sundaram Business Services to provide fund administration services to both asset managers and institutional investors, as well as middle-office and transaction processing support for its Asia-based locations.

BNP Paribas is one of the largest foreign banks in India and has a network that covers eight cities.