By Kang Seung-woo
Staff reporter
Woori Investment & Securities is set to become a player in Asia's regional financial markets, expanding its business overseas.
"Within the year, we plan to integrate the research center in Beijing and a liaison office in Shanghai into a consultative body, and it will work in line with the investment bank (IB) team in Korea to invigorate business in China," Woori Investment CEO Hwang Sung-ho said in a press conference, marking the first anniversary of his inauguration in Seoul, Tuesday.
The 56-year-old said that the soon-to-be-built local subsidiary would part of the IB department and it would prepare an initial public offering (IPO) - the act of selling shares in a company for the first time - after recruiting local employees.
Although its IB center in Singapore swung into the black just two years after its establishment, the first to be set up by a Korean securities company there, its business in Asia's second largest economy has yet to boom.
Aside from China, Hwang said Woori, one of the top three players in the local securities industry, is also paying attention to countries in Southeast Asia.
"We have launched our business - retail banking and IB - in Vietnam and Indonesia on a full scale," he said.
In Indonesia, Woori acquired 60 percent stake of PT Clemont Securities Indonesia in October 2008, thus advancing into the Indonesian financial market at a low cost and with less risk. It plans to expand its income base mainly through IB and brokerage there.
In Vietnam, it acquired a 49 percent stake in Chung khoan Bien Viet in February 2009. Woori has been running an office in Ho Chi Minh since November 2007 looking for business opportunities and examining the market there. The Vietnamese business is currently working closely with the Singapore IB center and Seoul headquarters.
"Woori Korindo Securities in Indonesia will launch an online trading system next month," he added.
Meanwhile, Hwang said that Woori is cruising to meet his expectation of becoming "the No. 1 financial investment company in every single rank," a goal he set when he took charge.
"We plan to make up for the brokerage sector offline to climb to the top spot," he said.
"It is our goal to pursue more profits than banks and we will provide advice on total asset management of funds, brokerage, bonds, foreign exchange and futures."
Meanwhile, Hwang had a negative view on the piecemeal sale of Woori Investment & Securities in terms of the privatization of the Woori Financial Group.
"A holding company without a non-banking financial firm cannot get a high rating," he said. "That method is not desirable for the financial development and is improbable."