Newly-elected president of Hana Bank, South Korea's fourth-largest lender, said Monday he will do his best to complete the stalled merger with the Korea Exchange Bank (KEB) as soon as possible.
Kim Byoung-ho, 54, former vice president and acting president of Hana Bank, was named the new head at the bank's board and shareholders meetings. He will start his two-year term from Tuesday.
He has been the acting president since November last year when his predecessor Kim Jong-jun stepped down.
"I will create an atmosphere to help the entire organization get on with its work. And I will contribute to completing the Hana-KEB integration in cooperation with Hana Financial Group Inc.," Kim said.
Hana Financial has been pushing forward its flagship bank's merger with the KEB since it acquired the latter from a U.S. buyout fund Loan Star in 2012.
But its long-waited attempt hit a snag last week when a Seoul court issued an injunction banning Hana Financial from engaging in any merger processes, citing its earlier promise with KEB's union to keep the lender independent for five years.
As a result, Hana Financial withdrew its request filed previously with the Financial Services Commission (FSC) for the merger approval.
Hana Financial moved quickly and aggressively after the court injunction, sacking three executives who were in charge of the merger project and tapping Kim as the bank's new president.
The group had put off naming the new chief for more than three months, intending to appoint the new president after the integration is completed.
"Kim has to appease the company and contribute to the Hana-KEB integration," said a bank official who asked not to be named.
Shares of Hana Financial closed at 29,250 won (US$26.7) on the Seoul bourse, down 2.5 percent from the previous session, while the benchmark KOSPI fell 0.44 percent. The news of Kim's succession to the post circulated during market hour. (Yonhap)
