Latest news with #Shinhan
Korea Herald
01-06-2025
- Business
- Korea Herald
Shinhan board chair leads overseas investor meetings in Asia
Shinhan Financial Group is stepping up efforts to strengthen ties with global investors, dispatching its board chair to lead overseas investor relations meetings across Asia. The South Korean banking group said Sunday that board chair and independent director Yoon Jae-won led a three-day investor relations roadshow in Hong Kong and Singapore last week, from Tuesday to Thursday. It marked the first time a board chair from a listed Korean company independently led such an overseas event. During the sessions, Yoon outlined Shinhan's strategies to enhance corporate value and addressed key risks facing both the group and the broader Korean financial market. She also detailed the board's initiatives to improve governance and foster diversity. Shinhan's top brass have been ramping up efforts to engage foreign investors as the group seeks to attract more overseas capital. In May, CEO and Chairman Jin Ok-dong led a weeklong European roadshow with stops in London, Frankfurt and Warsaw. As of Friday, foreign ownership in Shinhan stood at 58.5 percent, trailing behind local rivals KB Financial Group at 75.4 percent and Hana Financial Group at 66.6 percent. In Hong Kong, Yoon also met with members of the Asian Corporate Governance Association, sharing best practices in governance reform from various countries and discussing the board's role in enhancing corporate trust and advancing sustainable management. 'We believe the board's efforts to enhance governance will serve as the foundation for improving Shinhan's transparency and efficiency, ultimately raising corporate value,' Yoon said. 'I will work to ensure our board meets global standards and earns market confidence.'
![[Graphic News] Number of bank branches falls for 6th straight year](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwimg.heraldcorp.com%2Fnews%2Fcms%2F2025%2F05%2F27%2Fnews-p.v1.20250527.aef21447506c4c9c8899a0fd113d481f_T1.gif&w=3840&q=100)
Korea Herald
27-05-2025
- Business
- Korea Herald
[Graphic News] Number of bank branches falls for 6th straight year
The number of bank branches fell for the sixth year running in 2024 amid the popularity of mobile and online banking services, data showed. South Korean banks ran 5,792 branches at home and abroad combined as of end-December, down 57 from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Bank of Korea. Banks have opted to shut down branches as part of cost-cutting measures as more customers prefer mobile and internet banking. The pace of branch closures appears to be accelerating this year. According to industry officials, the number of domestic branches operated by the five major banks - KB Kookmin, Shinhan, Hana, Woori and NH Nonghyup - stood at 3,766 as of the end of the first quarter, down 76 from the previous quarter. (Yonhap)
Korea Herald
25-05-2025
- Business
- Korea Herald
Shinhan chief meets Goldman Sachs to deepen wealth, investment ties
Shinhan Financial Group Chair Jin Ok-dong held a series of high-level meetings with Goldman Sachs executives in Europe to discuss expanding collaboration and benchmarking global practices in wealth management and investment banking. The meetings took place during a weeklong investor relations tour that began on May 18, with stops in London, Frankfurt in Germany and Warsaw, Poland. During the trip, Jin met with institutional investors and global financial leaders to share Shinhan's strategy amid rising macroeconomic uncertainty. The tour was designed to reinforce the group's strategic direction, provide updates on its value enhancement initiatives and explore new revenue streams through global partnerships. Jin met with Anthony Gutman, co-head of Goldman Sachs International, and Ronan Breen, managing director covering financial institutions, to explore ways to strengthen Shinhan's investment banking business and unlock synergies across its groupwide wealth management platform. Talks centered on boosting cross-border asset management capabilities and identifying scalable strategies for long-term growth. Later, Jin sat down with Chris French, co-head of private wealth management for Europe, the Middle East and Africa at Goldman Sachs, to delve into operating models and the strategic expansion of global wealth management business lines. 'By benchmarking the strategies of global financial institutions, we aim to localize and implement sustainable profit models in the Korean market,' Jin said. 'Direct engagement with global investors is a key element of our broader value-up strategy.' During the meetings, Jin also shared Shinhan's outlook on geopolitical and macroeconomic developments, including US tariff policy shifts and Korea's political landscape and outlined the group's risk management and earnings resilience strategies. He emphasized Shinhan's progress toward its 2024 financial targets, including a 50-basis-point improvement in return on equity, maintaining a common equity tier 1 ratio, a measure of a bank's financial health, above 13.1 percent and achieving a shareholder return ratio exceeding 42 percent. The tour concluded in Warsaw, where Jin explored growth opportunities in Poland's expanding energy, infrastructure and defense sectors.
Korea Herald
25-05-2025
- Business
- Korea Herald
Shinhan chief meets Goldman Sachs to discuss wealth, investment strategy
Shinhan Financial Group Chair Jin Ok-dong held a series of high-level meetings with Goldman Sachs executives in Europe to discuss expanding collaboration and benchmarking global practices in wealth management and investment banking. The meetings took place during a weeklong investor relations tour that began on May 18, with stops in London, Frankfurt in Germany and Warsaw, Poland. During the trip, Jin met with institutional investors and global financial leaders to share Shinhan's strategy amid rising macroeconomic uncertainty. The tour was designed to reinforce the group's strategic direction, provide updates on its value enhancement initiatives and explore new revenue streams through global partnerships. Jin met with Anthony Gutman, co-head of Goldman Sachs International, and Ronan Breen, managing director covering financial institutions, to explore ways to strengthen Shinhan's investment banking business and unlock synergies across its groupwide wealth management platform. Talks centered on boosting cross-border asset management capabilities and identifying scalable strategies for long-term growth. Later, Jin sat down with Chris French, co-head of private wealth management for Europe, the Middle East and Africa at Goldman Sachs, to delve into operating models and the strategic expansion of global wealth management business lines. 'By benchmarking the strategies of global financial institutions, we aim to localize and implement sustainable profit models in the Korean market,' Jin said. 'Direct engagement with global investors is a key element of our broader value-up strategy.' During the meetings, Jin also shared Shinhan's outlook on geopolitical and macroeconomic developments, including US tariff policy shifts and Korea's political landscape and outlined the group's risk management and earnings resilience strategies. He emphasized Shinhan's progress toward its 2024 financial targets, including a 50-basis-point improvement in return on equity, maintaining a common equity tier 1 ratio, a measure of a bank's financial health, above 13.1 percent and achieving a shareholder return ratio exceeding 42 percent. The tour concluded in Warsaw, where Jin explored growth opportunities in Poland's expanding energy, infrastructure and defense sectors.
Korea Herald
01-05-2025
- Business
- Korea Herald
Credit card spending by foreign residents in Korea jumps 65% in 4 years, hitting W56tr
Foreign nationals living in South Korea are a growing force in the country's consumer economy, spending 56.3 trillion won ($39.3 billion) on locally issued credit cards in 2023, according to a December 2024 report from the Migration Research and Training Center based on Shinhan Card data. That's a 65 percent increase from 34.1 trillion won in 2019. The figure only includes transactions made by foreign nationals living in Korea who hold credit cards issued by Shinhan, one of South Korea's largest card providers by market share (18.6 percent as of Q1 2025). It excludes those using overseas cards, meaning actual foreign resident spending is likely significantly higher. As of 2024, foreign residents make up roughly 5 percent of the country's population. On average, each foreign cardholder spent 5.15 million won in 2023, up from 4.6 million won in 2021 — though still behind the 7.05 million won spent by the average Korean credit card holder. One of the most notable shifts is in how foreign residents are spending. The share of card purchases made via e-commerce more than doubled in just four years — from 9.7 percent in 2019 to 19.3 percent in 2023. Though traditional offline retail still leads (27.3 percent), this rapid growth in digital transactions reflects broader post-pandemic changes in consumer behavior — and a growing reliance on online platforms among foreigners navigating daily life in Korea, the report explained. This consumption surge is being driven by a demographic transformation. As of 2024, there were 2.65 million foreign residents in South Korea, up 690,000 from three years earlier, according to the Ministry of Justice. Many are no longer short-term workers; today's foreign population increasingly includes long-term residents — such as international students, permanent residents and marriage migrants. Between 2010 and 2023, the share of foreigners on low-skilled labor visas fell from 54.4 percent to 29.7 percent, while more stable visa categories such as marriage migrants (10.3 percent) and education-related residents (16.6 percent) have steadily expanded. Korean businesses are taking notice. Major banks like Shinhan and Hana have moved beyond remittance services to offer tailored savings products, loans, and even Korean language education, lifestyle content and community platforms. 'From currency exchange to home loans, this is one of the few areas where firms can generate immediate revenue by serving foreign residents,' a Shinhan Bank official said in the report. Still, retaining these customers long-term isn't guaranteed. The MRTC report points out that many foreigners face persistent hurdles in everyday services. 'This isn't just about more foreigners living in Korea. It's about a shift in the economy itself. For Korean businesses, foreign residents aren't just a market segment — they should be considered a structural part of the country's future,' an MRTC researcher said in the report.
