A group of dignitaries including Chairman Han Dong-woo of Shinhan Financial Group in a recent ceremony cut the tape to open the Shinhan Creative Finance Plaza located at the Shinhan Bank’s  Pankyo Techno Valley in Songnam, Gyeonggi Province.

Chairman Han Dong-woo of Shinhan Financial Group has decided to expand corporate investment banking (CIB) to small- and medium-sized firms.

The CIB financial operational areas include M&As, capital increases, initial public offerings and other procurement of capital and investment related businesses, in addition to the bank’s traditional areas of businesses — such as deposits and loans.

The financial group opened Shinhan Creative Financial Plaza, a comprehensive outlet to provide CIB financial solutions, at the bank’s Pankyo Techno Valley in Songnam, Gyeonggi Province.

The new outlet will have an expert from Shinhan Financial Investment to advise clients on various kinds of capital markets and consult them on investments. 

The financial group will strengthen financial deals with small- and medium-sized firms, which is why Pankyo Techno Financial Valley was set up at the Gyeonggi Shiwha Central Financial Center, where many SMEs have their offices.

The Creative Financial Plaza is a kind of bridgehead that has been instrumental in expanding the group’s CIB business sector since his arrival at the financial group. In 2011, the chairman ordered the similar operations of the group’s affiliates to be integrated under a matrix structure.

Shinhan Bank reassigned around 150 of its corporate financial sector personnel at Shinhan Financial Investment to take charge of the CIB sector to comply with the chairman’s order. The move soon paid off. Transactions in the CIB sector rose to 5.175 trillion won over 126 cases from 3.749 trillion won in 2011 in just 69 cases.

Officials of the group said they had been considering a CIB expansion for SMEs early this year, with CIB transactions rising rapidly, and the group will continue to expand the number of its outlets that can conduct CIB transactions depending on how the two new outlets fair in the future.

The Creative Financial Plaza will take care of loans, deposits, foreign exchange, financial products connected with corporate finance, consultations on M&As, capital increases and initial public offerings.

SFG is continually generating economic advancements for the sake of reliable management by implementing customer-oriented initiatives and customer information protection, reinforcing ethical management and transparency, and carrying out systematic risk management that takes social and environmental factors into consideration. 

SFG is increasing social value by fulfilling its responsibilities to diverse stakeholders, including pursuing a work-life balance for its employees, implementing social contribution activities for the development of local communities and the financially underserved people, and seeking shared development with suppliers. 

SFG is realizing CSR by working hand-in-hand with diverse stakeholders, including customers, shareholders, investors and local communities. 

“Based on the stakeholder engagement system established, we identified the reasonable expectations and interests of stakeholders,” the company said. “Among the stakeholders' expectations, business performances and significant impacts on economy, society and environment are identified and reflected in management activities, to strengthen trust relationships with stakeholders and create new business opportunities.”