Overseas Banking Expansion
Han Dong-woo, chairman of Shinhan Financial Group, recently said in a meeting, “We will aggressively seek to extend our business to other countries, including Indonesia, the Philippines, and Mexico.”
Han said, “We took over an Indonesian bank last year, but we haven’t received a license from the local authorities yet. We will apply for approval after we expand the size of the bank further. For other businesses in the group, in the card sector, we have established a consumer financial corporation in Kazakhstan. Also, we are pushing forward to take over securities firms in Vietnam and Indonesia in the securities sector.”
He added, “While it is hard for the banking sector to advance into other countries according to the policy of each country, the non-banking sector is easier to do so. So, we will extend our business in the available parts in the consumer finance sector first, and then extend it further to the banking sector later. In the case of Vietnam, as Shinhan and HSBC have entered the market early and competed with one another and there are more than 200 to 300 Korean workers, this is a good example that both card and insurance companies could push into the market.”
Moreover, regarding its global localization strategy, he said, “Like the Japanese solar energy fund makes a high earnings rate, we need to find and offer products that have a higher rate of return than the domestic ones, to consumers. Also, partnering with BNP Paribas, Shinhan is selling retirement products.”