Asian rebellion in Foreign Bankers Group

By Kim Jae-won

Asian members of the Foreign Bankers Group flexed their growing muscles by pushing for an unprecedented vote to select a leader.

The “Asian rebellion” was led by Bang Hyo-jin, head of the Korean branch of the Development Bank of Singapore, who stood against Michael Hellbeck, chief operating officer (COO) of Standard Chartered (SC) First Korea in a one-to-one vote.

According to sources, Hellbeck won by “one or two votes” and will lead the fraternity for the next two years.

“We believe the organization failed to reflect the interest of its members so we pushed for a vote,” an inside source told The Korea Times.

At least, one long-term executive of a European bank that is a member of the fraternity also admitted that the bankers club left a lot to be desired for forging a unified opinion for its members and effectively convey it to Korean regulators.

“The vote should be seen as an offshoot of the members’ dissatisfaction with its leadership,” the source said, adding that the Asian rebellion came out in that context.

Since its establishment in 1982, the fraternity, which has 38 members, has been led by chiefs from European and American banks. Never before has the selection of its leader come to a vote showdown.

The vote was divided across regional lines, as U.S. and European bankers backed Hellbeck, while Asian lenders supported Bang, sources said. Australians sided with Bang. Hellbeck used to lead Deutsche Bank’s Seoul office but moved to SC First last year. Hellbeck didn’t return repeated calls for comments.

Out of 38 members of the Foreign Bankers Group, 12 are from Europe and 10 from the United States. Five are Japanese, comprising the largest bloc among Asian countries.

Industry sources say the razor-thin margin reflects a significant change in demographics.

They say the number of American and European lenders has declined due to frequent mergers and acquisitions, while more and more Asian lenders, especially from China and India, are advancing into Korea on the back of the region’s upbeat economies.

Meanwhile, there are some changes in the boardroom of the group. Societe Generale withdrew, while HSBC Korea and ING Bank Korea newly joined.