In the year 1996 the Reserve Bank of India introduced the system of Primary Dealers with a view to strengthen the institutional infrastructure of government securities market. Six entities were granted licenses of which PNB Gilts was one. The company was established as a wholly owned subsidiary of Punjab National Bank with an initial paid up capital of Rs 50 crore, which is also the minimum capital requirement for a Primary Dealer.

RBI, New Delhi, granted PNB Gilts a certificate of registration vide its letter dated 10th February 1998, to carry on the business of a non-banking finance company. The company decided to expand its capital base & came with an IPO of Rs 3.5 crore shares at an offer price of Rs 30 per share aggregating Rs 105 crore in July 2000. This increased the paid up capital of the company to Rs 135.01 crore and reduced the holding of Punjab National Bank to 74.07%.

In February 2009 Punjab National Bank (PNB) decided to merge its primary dealership subsidiary PNB Gilts with self instead of selling the company,. Punjab National Bank was holding 74.07% stake in PNB Gilts.Punjab National Bank hopes to complete the merger of PNB Gilts with itself by March 2010 and expects net profit to grow 20-23% in the current fiscal.

Products and services offered by the company:

• Treasury Bills
• Central Government Dated Securities
• State Government Securities
• PSU Bonds
• Inter-Corporate Deposits
• CSGL accounts
• Money market instruments
• Merchant Banking
• Mutual Fund Distribution
• Investment/ trading in Equity and Equity derivatives

In addition to the above, it also offers advisory services to its clients to manage the government securities portfolio.

Achievements/ recognition:

• The first stand alone Primary Dealer to come up with an IPO & get listed
• The first PD to achieve ISO 9001:2000 certification.
• The first to obtain a P1+ rating from CRISIL for its short-term borrowing program. At present the rating from CRISIL is for borrowing up to Rs 250 crore.
•  The company achieved a turnover of Rs.53,390 crore during 2005-2006.