South Korea has taken three state-owned financial groups off the list of public institutions, paving the way for their privatization process, the finance ministry said Tuesday.
KDB Financial Group, the Korea Development Bank (KDB) and the Industrial Bank of Korea (IBK) were taken off the list of public institutions whose management is subject to government supervision, according to the ministry.
The move comes as the government is pushing to sell stakes in those financial institutions. The ministry said that the decision is intended to ease market uncertainty and clearly demonstrate the government's will to privatize the banking groups.
KDB Financial, a financial holding company whose flagships include KDB, is currently pushing for its initial public offering.
The IBK is also seeking to sell a 1 trillion won stake this year.
Earlier in January, KDB Financial Chairman Kang Man-soo told reporters that the government is expected to sell its 10 percent stake in the state-run group this year, mostly to domestic institutional investors.
(Yonhap News)
