Shinhan to solidify standing in Vietnam as top Korean financial firm

Shinhan Financial Group Chairman Jin Ok-dong, fourth from right, and other group executives attend a ceremony to celebrate group subsidiaries' relocation to a new office in Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh City, Thursday (local time). Courtesy of Shinhan Financial Group

Shinhan Financial Group plans to solidify its standing as the top foreign financial entity in Vietnam, as illustrated by the relocation of over 1,200 employees of five group subsidiaries to the economic hub of Ho Chi Minh City. The five oversee the group’s banking, cards, brokerage, life insurance and digital solutions.

The group will fortify cross-subsidiary collaborations, a strength to further enhance Shinhan’s collective competitiveness in the Southeast Asian country and beyond.

“Shinhan Financial Group provides financial solutions unmatched by competitors in the market, propelled by close collaboration among subsidiaries in Vietnam,” Shinhan Financial Group Chairman Jin Ok-dong said at a ceremony to celebrate the subsidiaries' relocation, Thursday.

“Relocation to the new office in the commercially busiest financial hub of Vietnam will elevate Shinhan as the top service provider defined by a customer-oriented business mindset, an indication of a great stride forward," he added.

Shinhan Financial Group headquarters in Ho Chi Minh / Courtesy of Shinhan Financial Group

Shinhan Financial registered a record-high profit of 410.8 billion won ($302 million) from its global business in the first half. Of the total, 141.3 billion came from its banking subsidiary.

Shinhan was the top Korean financial service provider in Vietnam, buttressed by a profit of 142.7 billion won over the same period. Shinhan constituted over a third, or 35 percent, of the profit made by Korean financial market players there. About 98 percent of Shinhan employees in the country are Vietnamese.

Shinhan Bank was the first Korean bank to open an office in Vietnam. It was set up in Ho Chi Minh City in 1993.

Shinhan established a corporate entity for Shinhan Bank Vietnam in 2009. It acquired the Vietnam retail business of ANZ Bank in 2017.