Maintaining Presence

 

Ajay Kanwal, president of Standard Chartered Bank Korea, dismissed the rumors about SC Bank’s withdrawal from the Korean market by stressing the importance of the market. He was appointed as the president of SC Bank Korea on April 1. 

“On the very day of my inauguration, Korea was arranged as the SC Group’s headquarters overseeing the Northeast Asian markets including Japan and Mongolia,” he said during the May 29 press conference at the Plaza Hotel in Seoul, adding, “The decision reflects the strategic standing and significance of the Korean market.” The president is serving as the CEO of the regional headquarters, too. 

He denied the rumors about the withdrawal as well. SC Bank Korea has reduced the number of its branches due to deteriorating profitability since last year and has moved to dispose of some of its subsidiaries such as SC Capital and SC Savings Bank. This has resulted in such rumors. 

“I am sure that the SC Group is going to do its business in the Korean market for a long period of time,” he explained, continuing, “It is in this vein that Korea has become the regional headquarters.” He also remarked that the group has no additional merger plan at all except for the consolidation of 50 local branches by the end of this year. 

The president also showed his will to focus on information technology. “Korea is a global IT powerhouse and SC Bank will make the most of its IT infrastructure to provide the world’s finest smart banking and digital banking,” he said, “We are currently analyzing what is the most suitable digital banking model for the Korean market and I expect that the answer would be the co-presence of digital and physical services.”

Copyright © BusinessKorea. Prohibited from unauthorized reproduction and redistribution