President Kim Do-jin of the Industrial Bank of Korea (IBK) revealed his management vision, “Companion Finance,” which is designed to expand the bank’s financial support to SMEs to create a “virtuous cycle support system” between IBK and SME customers. The ultimate goal is that they grow together with the purpose of creating 100,000 jobs around the country.
The president announced the new vision during his speech marking the bank’s 56th anniversary at a ceremony held on Aug. 1 at the bank’s Euljiro headquarters in Seoul.
He said, “What we do now will decide the bank’s future survival five or 10 years down the road, and we should go ahead with reform and changes.” Some 400 officers and staff of the bank attended the ceremony.
“Companion Finance” implies the bank’s support to the ecological structures for its customers so they can grow together with the bank; “Repeat Leap Finance” is a vow to help its customers explore overseas markets; and “Virtuous Cycle Finance” is a pledge to support structural reform and M&As.
The CEO said the bank should provide financial support in the right way for the sake of customer growth, so that they and the bank can “grow together” and create 100,000 new jobs across the country.
He did not forget to mention his pledge to convert the bank’s irregular employees to regular employees, and takeover banks overseas this year. “We should never separate the jobs into regular and irregular ones, and instead think about each other and understand eachother to grow together in our careers.” He also stressed that the bank should conduct M&As overseas at this time when interest rates are low, with the growth of businesses not much higher.
On the Kakao Bank operation, he said the core of the banks’ operations might no longer be in financial products and services. “Like Goldman Sachs, which has been changing into an IT firm, "we should be ready for changes and reform,” he claimed.
Industrial Bank of Korea (IBK), Seoul, Korea, which was established in 1961 pursuant to the Industrial Bank of Korea Act (the IBK Act) to promote independent economic activities and provide development finance and related banking services to small- and medium-sized enterprises in Korea, is a full-service commercial banking institution.
IBK’s principal authority under the IBK Act is to discount bills for, and to make loans to, SMEs in a wide range of industries. Most of IBK’s activities have been carried out pursuant to this authority. However, in addition to IBK’s primary public purpose, IBK provides a broad range of banking services to individuals, households and other non-SMEs, including lending, deposit taking, credit card issuance and servicing, trust account management, and research and advisory services.
Until 1994, IBK’s entire issued share capital was held by the Korean government. Since 1994, the government’s share ownership has gradually decreased through public offering of new shares and an increase in employee stock ownership.
As of Nov. 30, 2014, the Korean government’s share ownership was at approximately 53.6 percent. The Korean government has full control over IBK’s management, policies and operations pursuant to the IBK Act. Under the IBK Act, the Korean government has the right to appoint or remove members of the board of directors (the IBK Board) of IBK, including the chairman and chief executive officer.
The Korean government also has the power to appoint or dismiss IBK’s statutory auditor who has the duty to oversee IBK’s operations and financial matters. IBK’s Articles of Incorporation may only be amended with the approval of the Financial Supervisory Commission (the FSC).
IBK owns and operates IBK Capital Corporation, IBK Securities Co., Ltd., IBK Insurance Co., Ltd., IBK Asset Management Co., Ltd., IBK Systems Co., Ltd., and IBK Credit Information Co., Ltd. In Korea, IBK offers diverse products and services through its 648 branches. In terms of its global operations, IBK now covers six continents to provide easily accessible services for Korean SMEs wherever they do business. In Asia, where Korean SMEs have the strongest presence, IBK is widening its reach.
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