With an aim to become a major retail bank in Asia, South Korea-based Shinhan Bank is gearing up for an overseas expansion drive, reported the Korea Herald. It has already established subsidiaries in Canada, Japan and Vietnam. Now, it has received license from Chinese authorities to commence yuan-based retail banking operations.
Analysts are of the opinion that, as there is a stiff competition in South Korea’s domestic market, emerging markets in Asia offer growth prospects for banking services and this forces Shinhan to look outside South Korea.
Japan is a strategic market for the Seoul-based lender. In September, the bank established a Japanese subsidiary, becoming the second overseas bank to commence retail banking operations in Japan after Citibank.
Vietnam is another market that Shinhan intends to foray into. In November this year, Shinhan has established ShinhanVina Bank, converting its existing branch in Ho Chi Minh into a corporate body.
A bank official said: “Viewing the latest crisis as an opportunity, we have executed our expansion plan step by step, targeting markets and businesses that we know we can be successful in.”
Lee Baek-soon, CEO, said: “We hope to attract more than JPY500 billion in deposits in five years and JPY1 trillion in 10 years.,” reported the newspaper.
