Slow Banking Business
The local unit of Citi Bank said on November 19 that the US-based bank will reduce nearly 10 percent of its branches in Korea through November this year. This decision is mainly due to its declining profits in the local financial market.
The local unit of Citi Bank said that they had about 196 branches in Korea as of this month, compared to 218 at the end of December last year.
Citi Bank Korea’s net profits were 27.9 billion won (US$26.3 million) in Q3 this year, down 53.3 percent from a year earlier.
According to a report by Credit Suisse, Korea is the US bank’s fourth-largest market in terms of revenue, next to the United States, Mexico and Britain.
Western financial companies have been reducing their presence in Korea since 2008 with the global economic recession hitting a harsh financial blow to their businesses across the world.
Since 2008, fifteen Western financial firms operating have either withdrawn or reduced their businesses here, according to data compiled by the Financial Services Commission.