Shinhan Bank pushes for ‘Asian financial belt’

Shinhan Bank, the flagship bank of Korea’s leading banking unit Shinhan Financial Group, is pushing to establish an Asian financial belt by expanding its presence in Southeast Asia.

It has been setting up branch locations in countries in the financial belt that connects countries including Japan, China, Vietnam, and India, and recently launched Shinhan Bank Indonesia in Jakarta, Indonesia, on May 16. The bank was renamed from Indonesia Bank Metro Express that was acquired by Shinhan last year.

Moreover, Shinhan plans this year to merge Shinhan Bank Indonesia with another Indonesian bank that the company acquired last year from Centratama Nasional Bank.

Due to the unstable domestic financial market, Shinhan Bank is turning its eyes abroad to diverse and sustainable markets for future growth.

In 2010, 2.9 percent of the bank’s net profits was from overseas. This rose to 8.7 percent in 2014 and to 10.5 percent in 2015. The company hopes to increase its market share to 20 percent in 2020.

By Lee Seo-young (seoyounglee@heraldcorp.com)