InterviewDeutsche Bank urges Korean financial markets to match its companies' global reach

Deutsche Bank said Korea needs to improve financial market accessibility and regulatory predictability to attract more global capital, as its world-class companies continue to underpin the country's investment appeal.

In a recent exclusive interview with The Korea Times, Alexander von zur Muehlen, Deutsche Bank's CEO of Asia Pacific, Europe, Middle East & Africa and Germany, said "few economies have produced such a concentration of globally competitive companies across strategically important industries" as Korea has.

"The next step is to make its financial markets as international as its companies," said von zur Muehlen, who is also a member of the bank's management board. "Greater openness, simplicity and predictability can help broaden international participation."

Korea has been opening its financial markets to global investors, introducing 24-hour foreign exchange trading in July. The country also allows foreign institutions to participate directly in its onshore foreign exchange market through the Registered Foreign Institution program, with Deutsche Bank among the first participants.

The Bank of Korea also plans to launch an offshore won settlement system in January 2027, allowing foreign investors to trade Korean won with one another through accounts at banks in their home countries.

Von zur Muehlen said Korea was moving in the right direction, noting that international investors value liquidity, accessibility and predictable regulation. "What matters now is consistent execution — reducing friction, increasing predictability and continuing to open the market."

Von zur Muehlen visited Korea on Oct. 29 to attend the 19th Asia-Pacific Conference of German Business in Seoul. He said he was struck by the pace of change each time he returned to the country.

Bridging Korea and global markets

For Deutsche Bank, Korea's growing global integration represents its biggest growth opportunity in the country, according to von zur Muehlen. The bank has been present in Korea since 1978.

The company aims to leverage its Korean operations and global network to support Korean companies expanding overseas with financing, strategic advice, payments, liquidity and risk management services, while also helping international investors access the Korean market.

He noted that a recent Deutsche Bank survey of leading companies worldwide found that 98 percent of Korean respondents identified Europe as an important production market for their global businesses, while 83 percent ranked Germany among their top three European destinations for planned investment.

The relationship also works in the other direction, he said. Korean companies have become strategic partners for European businesses in technology, manufacturing and innovation. Trade in goods between Korea and Europe totaled 124 billion euros ($92.9 million) in 2025. Around 540 German companies employ approximately 100,000 people in Korea.

"The bank was founded to facilitate trade between Germany and international markets, and connecting Europe and Asia has been part of our history almost from the beginning," von zur Muehlen said, describing this business as "natural territory" for Deutsche Bank.

Its decision to allocate an additional 150 million euros in capital to its Seoul branch in 2023 has supported its expansion. Since then, the lender has broadened its financing and banking services, including its return to Korea's debt capital markets that year.

The bank recently appointed Mok Jeong-wook, who has 15 years of industry experience, as its new head of corporate coverage at its Seoul branch to support Korean clients' global expansion ambitions.

"Three years on, I am even more convinced we made the right call," von zur Muehlen said.

He added that Korea's fundamental strengths remain intact despite a recent sell-off by foreign investors in the benchmark KOSPI.

"I would distinguish between a market move and a change in the investment case," he said. "I would focus much more on the direction of Korea's structural reforms than on any single period of market volatility."