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Employees of CIGNA, a global insurer, pose while ...

Woori Bank CEO Lee Chong-hwi, center on the ...

James Tabacci, right, CEO of CMET Finance Holdings, ...

Employees of Hana Bank raise their fists wearing red ...

Incheon Main Customs Director General Kim ...

Global Banks Reassess Anglo-Saxon Model

This is the second in a 12-part series of “The Korea Times ― the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) Joint Project” designed to identify new realities in the post-crisis world and provide winning strategies for leading Korean firms in 11 key industries. In cooperation with BCG, The Korea Times will look into a wide variety of issues both in the global economy and major indstries. ― ED. By Lee Hyo-sik Staff Reporter The global banking industry is searching for the new course of direction in the post-crisis era as it slowly emerges from the worldwide credit crunch and the subsequent financial market meltdown in late 2008. Industry players are now facing a new set of rules and different market environments in line with the tightening banking regulations pushed for by the U.S. and other governments around the world. They are also tasked with cleaning up bad assets and finding new sources of growth amid the increasingly competitive and sophisticated global financial market. A group of Anglo-Saxon financial institutions are largely responsible for the worldwide mess from whic

Aiming for Global Top 50 by 2012

By Yoon Ja-young Staff Reporter Shinhan Bank, the main pillar of Shinhan Financial Group, is leading the group's efforts to realize its vision of becoming ``World Class Financial Group.'' On top of expanding ITS customer base, Shinhan is focusing on differentiating products and innovating process. It has placed top priority on enhancing the value of services to customers and shareholders, and is making efforts to fulfill its corporate social responsibility. The global sector is at the core of the bank's business strategy, which aims to reap over 50 percent of total sales there over the longer term. It plans to focus on Asia first ― for the next ten years ― to become a leading bank in the region. Value Growth Rather than M&A Shinhan is focusing more on enhancing its competitive edge in productivity, profitability and efficiency, rather than increasing its bulk through mergers and acquisitions (M&A). The bank is thus cutting costs by making processes and systems more effective, developing customer-oriented products and expanding its customer base to create a stable in

Seoul Has Second Thoughts Over Global Banking Reform Plan

By Lee Hyo-sik Staff Reporter Unlike U.S. and European counterparts, Korean financial institutions have emerged largely unscarred from the worldwide credit crunch and the subsequent financial market mess. What is more, the collapse of the global financial system presented local banks and other financial services once-in-a-life time opportunities to become a leading player in Asia and beyond in the post-crisis era by expanding size through merger & acquisition (M&A), strengthening risk management and improving bottom line. Despite the tightening banking regulations introduced by the United States and other countries in a bid to prevent the reoccurrence of the global financial crisis, Korean policymakers are reluctant to follow the wave of the global banking reform, saying the situation here is quite different from those of advanced economies. They say that financial institutions here are closely watched by the government, stressing that Korean financial firms need to get bigger in order to compete in the global market against the likes of Goldman Sachs, and create mo

A Good Corporate Member of Society

By Yoon Ja-young Staff Reporter Shinhan Bank believes that it should perform for the public good also, fulfilling its social responsibility as a corporate member of society. ``The public good means it should benefit all of society, not confining beneficiaries to individuals or businesses. Shinhank Bank should be true to its social responsibility mantra, benefiting our customers as well as society,'' said CEO Lee Baek-soon. As the leader of the bank, Lee often quotes ``The Art of War'' by Sun Tzu, which says that the army that has the same spirit throughout will win. This means that when all its members ― from tellers to the CEO himself ― share the same concentrated effort to they can make the dreams and vision of the bank come true. As CEO, he stresses virtue and righteousness, or pursuing the right thing. He believes Shinhan should build up sound corporate culture and become a bank that gains trust from people. Hence, the bank is seeking a long-term vision of presenting customers and society with value services, instead of chasing short-term profits. That will help Shin

KEB Seeking Smart Growth As Sale of Shares Comes Close

By Cho Jin-seo Staff Reporter Does a high-dividend policy by foreign private equity funds damage a firm's long-term growth potential? Possibly, but not necessarily. Look at what happened in the Korea Exchange Bank (KEB) during the crisis. The bank had handed out relatively big dividends to its shareholders since Lone Star, a private equity firm, bought 51 percent of its shares in 2004. Many criticized that the annual payout to shareholders is ruining the fundamentals of the 43-year-old bank. So, it looks ironic that KEB have weathered the financial crisis in the healthier form than any of its competitors. KEB saw its net income grew by 13.9 percent last year despite the rest of the industry suffered from the global crisis. It marked 891.7 billion in net income in 2009, with 306.4 billion won made in the last three months. This remarkable profit was possible largely thanks to the management's prudence. "Smart growth," is how chief executive Larry Klane describes it. KEB is the fifth largest bank in Korea in terms of asset size. Each of the top three banks _ Kookmin, Wo