KEB eyes expansion in Europe, Middle East

Korea Exchange Bank has set its eyes on overseas markets, particularly Europe and the Middle East, in an effort to sharpen its competency and future growth.

KEB president and CEO Kim Han-jo held an executive meeting Sunday to discuss raising the bank’s overall profit from overseas to 40 percent by 2025.

The bank’s profit from foreign operations is currently around 18 percent, of which 15 percent is gained from nine offices in Europe and the Middle East, bank officials said.

“We believe European and Middle Eastern offices will play a crucial role in the bank’s achievement of the 40 percent goal. It’s part of Hana Financial Group’s larger plan to become a global financial group,” a KEB spokesman said in a press release.

To reach the goal, KEB said it would continue to expand its number of overseas branches in such nations as Canada, India and Mexico by year-end.

“Localization is our weapon and strength in overseas expansion,” the spokesman said. “We will hire local employees, target non-Korean residents and adopt new IT technologies in banking systems.”

The shared vision of KEB and Hana is largely seen as yet another prelude to the scheduled merger between the two banking units.

In July, KEB and Hana began speeding up the integration process, which the firms say is inevitable for becoming the country’s top lender and surviving in the fast-moving financial industry.

Last month, the Financial Services Commission gave approval to KEB to spin off its credit card division for a merger with Hana SK Card, which was seen as a step toward early integration.

Hana Financial acquired KEB in February 2012 from U.S. buyout firm Lone Star Funds for 3.9 trillion won, but its merger plan has faced stiff opposition from KEB’s union.

By Suk Gee-hyun (monicasuk@heraldcorp.com)