Woori Investment overexpanding abroad

By Kang Seung-woo

Staff reporter

Woori Investment & Securities, one of the nation's top three securities firms, has risked expanding overseas operation amid the global crisis to capitalize on opportunities arising afterwards from emerging economies.

This is in stark contrast to other major brokerage houses that either have scaled back overseas businesses or maintained the status quo to head off the fallout from the unexpected financial turmoil.

The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) said Thursday that the number of local securities firms' overseas operations increased to 81 in March 2010 from 50 at the end of 2007 when the credit crisis started shaking the global economy.