Hana Financial Group has successfully taken over Broadway National Bank (BNB) Financial Services Corp. run by Korean-Americans, which owns BNB Bank in New York, by securing a 71 percent stake in the holding company on July 21, the group said recently.

Hana and BNB Corp. signed an agreement in New York on July 21, allowing Hana to buy 51 percent of the new shares issued by BNB Corp. and take over old shares in order to bring its total shares to 71 percent of total outstanding shares of BNB Corp., making both BNB Corp. and BNB Bank affiliates of Hana Financial Group.

BNB Bank was launched on Sept. 16, 1986 by residents in the Korean community in the eastern United States and Hana plans to make BNB its base to expand its banking operations in the U.S. in the future.

Chairman Kim Jung-tae said Hana now has secured a base to provide a number of banking services including trade financing and corporate financing to be able to provide integrated financial services in the United States, which is hoped to create synergy in cooperation with Hana’s operations in China, Indonesia, and other Asian countries under its Asian financial network.

Kim said Hana has been looking for financial tie-ups with other banks in China to strengthen its competitive power there since Korea Exchange Bank plans to penetrate the financial markets in countries like Turkey, Myanmar, and Peru, in addition to its operations in the Philippines and Panama.

BNB Bank is the only bank run by U.S. citizens of Korean origin that has a national bank license that will be useful to Hana in its U.S. operations.

The federal banks in the U.S. are under tight control by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, which gains them high trust from customers. The federal banks can set up branches in states across the U.S. without approvals from the OCC and Hana plans to take advantage of the situation and expand its operations across the U.S. from the east to the mid-west and west.

The takeover of BNB stakes by Hana, however, has to receive approval from the Federal Reserve Board to be finalized.