Business - The Korea Times

Major banks facing changes in leadership

CEOs of local banks speak in a breakfast meeting with Financial Services Commission Chairman Eun Sung-soo, center, at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry in central Seoul, Nov. 29, 2019. / YonhapBy Kim Bo-eunMajor banks may face a change in leadership beginning this month, as their current CEOs' terms come to an end. Citibank Korea's committee on forwarding candidates for executive positions will convene a second meeting Wednesday to decide on the final candidate for its CEO position. The appointment is expected to be finalized at a board meeting that will follow. The committee stated it has reviewed multiple candidates for the position at its first meeting held Sept. 25.Senior Executive Vice President Yoo Myung-soon, who is serving as the interim CEO of the bank after former chief Park Jin-hei stepped down in August, is widely expected within the banking sector to be named the next CEO of Citibank's local unit. This is all the more likely given Citigroup's appointment of its first female CEO Jane Fraser last month. Citigroup holds influence in the appointment of its unit head

Oct 4, 2020By Kim Bo-eun

'Shallow' digital vision from major lenders

gettyimagesbankBy Lee Min-hyungLeaders of Korea's major commercial banks are urged to stop hyping up their outwardly grand vision without the courage to “fundamentally change” their digital platforms. It has been half a year since the so-called big four financial firms ― KB, Shinhan, Woori and Hana ― underlined the digital paradigm shift as their top management priority to brace for in the coronavirus-pushed transactional changes here and abroad.The major lenders release daily press releases promoting their CEOs' unceasing steps to spearhead digital innovation.Woori launched its Digital Transformation Division in an organizational reshuffle in July. Woori Financial Group Chairman Son Tae-seung recently decided to commute to the group's second office in Namsan Tower everyday where the lenders' key digital workforce is located.But from the perspective of customers, it appears that no noticeable change has been made in terms of their digital platforms. Most of the commercial lenders' banking apps have not achieved fundamental progress despite their glib pledge to become digi

Oct 2, 2020By Lee Min-hyung

'Shallow' digital vision from major lenders

Banks enhancing digital workforce

Recruiters from banks hold an online interview with applicants during a financial job expo that took place for three days from Aug. 26 in Seoul. YonhapBy Lee Min-hyungCommercial banks here are reinforcing their digital workforce by cutting recruitment of bank clerks and expanding that of IT experts, in their bid to become online-driven and digitally agile lenders at the earliest possible date.The nation's five largest banks shared their plan to cut the number of new employees in half this year, compared to a year ago, amid unfavorable market circumstances induced by the unexpected COVID-19 pandemic.The lenders ― including KB, Shinhan, Hana, Woori and NongHyup ― hired a combined 3,000 new bank clerks in 2019, but they plan to recruit only half as many this year, with a focus on experts in digital banking and data management.All of the major lenders have included a category of digital and IT experts for this year's recruitment as part of their efforts to embrace the post-coronavirus banking paradigm shift represented by online-driven transactions.CEOs from the lenders have in recent mo

Sep 29, 2020By Lee Min-hyung

KDB criticized for allowing unfair competition

Korea Development Bank (KDB) Chairman Lee Dong-gull, left, and KDB Investment CEO Lee Dae-hyun / Korea Times fileBy Park Jae-hyukThe Korea Development Bank (KDB) is facing sharp criticism over KDB Investment's recent attempts to acquire Doosan Infracore and Hanjin Heavy Industries & Construction.Given that both Doosan and Hanjin are undergoing large-scale restructuring under the supervision of the state-run lender, critics pointed out the KDB subsidiary's bid to take over the key affiliates of the cash-strapped conglomerates could be a conflict of interest.KDB Investment recently joined hands with Hyundai Heavy Industries to take part in Monday's preliminary bidding to acquire Doosan's construction equipment manufacturing arm. The consortium is regarded as the strongest candidate to win the bid, among preliminary bidders including MBK Partners and Glenwood Private Equity.Because Doosan is under the control of the KDB, the conglomerate virtually needs approval from the state-run lender when it selects the buyer of its subsidiaries.From that standpoint, industry officials said KDB

Sep 29, 2020By Park Jae-hyuk

KDB criticized for allowing unfair competition

KDB open to supporting SsangYong

Korea Development Bank (KDB) Chairman Lee Dong-gull speaks during an online press conference at the state-run bank's headquarters in Seoul, Monday. / Courtesy of KDBBy Park Jae-hyukKorea Development Bank (KDB) Chairman Lee Dong-gull hinted Monday the state-run bank is still open to offering financial support to HAAH Automotive Holdings, which seeks to acquire the cash-strapped SsangYong Motor.In response to questions on whether the creditors of SsangYong including KDB were asked for such support and whether the creditors have any plans to provide assistance if the carmaker finds a new owner, the chairman declined to give a direct answer.“I cannot mention the name of a certain company, and regarding those issues, we are hearing from them through both official and unofficial channels,” he said at an online press conference.HAAH is said to have requested SsangYong creditors to extend maturing debts and reset the stakeholder position to give it control before it makes an investment. In lieu of HAAH's detailed investment plan and its commitment to the Korean car manufacturer,

Sep 28, 2020By Park Jae-hyuk

KB Financial to lead anti-coal campaign

KB Financial Group Chairman Yoon Jong-kyooBy Lee Kyung-min KB Financial Group has officially renounced its carbon-heavy investment plans, in a group-wide directive toward taking the initiative to tackle climate change, it said Sunday.The move is part of a last-ditch effort to win a four-year contract to handle a state fund of 10 trillion won managed by Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education.In the neck-and-neck race are KB Kookmin Bank, the group's bank subsidiary, and NongHyup Bank, which has been the handler of the education office's fund since 1964.The education office said the two will be evaluated on their degree of corporate social responsibility (CSR) contributions to education as well as anti-coal campaigning efforts. The winner will be announced soon. The move is also part of the environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) drive, defined by the three central factors in measuring the sustainability and societal impact of an investment in a company or business.An ESG committee under the holding firm of Kookmin Bank convened Sept. 25 decided to forgo new investment pro

Sep 27, 2020By Lee Kyung-min

IBK suspends branch head for receiving money

By Kim Bo-eunThe Industrial Bank of Korea's headquarters in central Seoul. / Korea Times fileThe state-run Industrial Bank of Korea (IBK) is in the hot seat after a series of misconduct incidents involving its employees. In the latest case, a branch head was found to have received tens of millions of won from a customer in exchange for providing convenience in services.According to the bank's inspection records from Rep. Yun Chang-hyun of the opposition People Power Party, the head of a branch in North Gyeongsang Province who served in the position through June was suspended for three months after the bank found he had received around 20 million won from a customer. The money was sent to the branch head's IBK account and used for personal purposes. IBK said it looked into the case after a tip-off and that the suspension was imposed on Aug. 31.This is not the first time an IBK staff member has engaged in misconduct.Last month, IBK found that an employee of a business branch in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, illicitly secured 7.6 billion won in loans for himself through family members to

Sep 25, 2020By Kim Bo-eun

IBK suspends branch head for receiving money

Standard Chartered CEO meets FSC chairman

Financial Services Commission (FSC) Chairman Eun Sung-soo, left, and Standard Chartered Group CEO Bill Winters pose at the Government Complex Seoul, Thursday. The bank said the CEO agreed on the potential of Seoul to become Asia's financial hub given the size of the Korean economy and the country's presence in global trade. They also discussed Korea's COVID-19 policy response, the global financial market and economy, visions for the future of the financial industry, fintech and the digital economy, according to the FSC. / Courtesy of FSC

Sep 24, 2020By Park Jae-hyuk

Standard Chartered CEO meets FSC chairman

Citibank Korea set to see first female CEO

Yoo Myung-soon / Korea Times photo by Choi Won-sukBy Kim Bo-eunCitigroup made headlines earlier this month by appointing its global consumer banking CEO Jane Fraser as its first female group CEO. Now attention is being drawn to the possible appointment of the first female CEO at Citibank Korea.Citibank's local unit is currently under the interim leadership of the lender's Senior Executive Vice President Yoo Myung-soon, after former CEO Park Jin-hei stepped down from the position last month.The lender's committee in charge of recommending candidates for executive positions will convene Friday to draw up a shortlist of candidates for the CEO position. The successful candidate will be selected at the second committee meeting early next month and the appointment will be finalized at a board meeting that will follow, according to the bank.Citigroup is known to hold influence over the appointment of unit heads around the world. Given the group's latest bold move, and Yoo's expertise, it appears the emergence of Citibank Korea's first female CEO could be possible.Yoo has more than 30 years

Sep 24, 2020By Kim Bo-eun

Citibank Korea set to see first female CEO

Hyundai Capital improves quality of in-house training

By Park Jae-hyukHyundai Capital and Hyundai Card said Thursday they have continued to improve the quality of in-house training for company employees.According to Hyundai Motor Group's financial subsidiaries, their “Open Class” lectures held since 2014 have covered diverse topics from the coronavirus to fintech, neural science and social media, inviting poet Ha Sang-wook, psychiatrist Ha Ji-hyeon and wrestler-turned-broadcaster Kim Nam-hoon.The latest lecture was delivered via Zoom by HI Investment & Securities research division head Ko Tae-bong, who is known as one of the leading automotive industry analysts.Hyundai Capital said the employees used a chat window to ask the expert about how the automotive industry is expected to change in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and how a finance company wholly owned by an automotive group should cope with the changes.“The best thing about Open Class is that anyone can choose a class they want to attend regardless of their job rank,” an employee of the company's Open Class Talent Management Team said. “We off