Chairman Sohn Tae-seung of Woori Financial Group. (Photo: WFG)

Woori Financial Group is on the verge of launching a new CIB operation by integrating the investment banking units of its affiliates - Woori Bank and Woori Investment Bank - which will be the first such move of its rebirth as a financial group early this year.

The move is part of its plan to build a base for its IB operation before moving to kick off a securities firm designed to fill the void in the group’s operation, created when it sold Woori Investment and Securities Co. to NH Investment and Securities in 2014. The new IB unit will be located in the building where Woori Bank has its head office with all of its officers and staff totaling around 100, including some 80 from the banking side.

When it starts its operation, the CIB will expand the operational territory as Woori Bank and Woori Investment Bank will come together to cooperate in the IB operation uniquely among the affiliate financial firms.

That will allow it to take up almost all of the securities transactions under the Banking Corporation Act, except those for trust sales of securities. It can engage in such businesses as bond deals, corporate papers, private bonds and short-term bonds, in addition to allowed to handle such financial deals as IPO, M&A, project financing, and syndication loans.

Officials of Woori Bank said when the two financial institutions’ IB operations are integrated, the areas they can cooperate in together grows wider, such as providing an integrated solution to corporate customers who wants loans.

The integration of the IB units may lead the financial group to restart securities operations, as it would be the first such move made by the financial group since its rebirth earlier in the year.

The integration of the IB units was said to have been carried out to get the IB sector as the group’s new growth engine thru Woori Investment Bank. It has also been taken as part of Chairman Sohn’s premeditated move to take over a securities firm. He declared early this year that he will go after M&As targeted at non-banking firms to strengthen the group’s non-banking sector.

He talked about synergy between the bank and the investment bank from their cooperation as they try to grow, saying that the group will be able to make a substantial growth from the non-banking sector, and securities and insurance affiliates in particular. Meritz Investment and Securities is the only company that has the licenses for operating both securities and IB sectors.

Woori Financial Group said on May 20 that Chairman Sohn Tae-seung conducted overseas IRs in Japan and Hong Kong for three nights and four days from May 19.

During the IR schedule, Sohn met overseas investors, such as sovereign wealth funds, global large asset managers and pension funds. He has increased his schedule from the original plan due to a flurry of requests from global investors for a meeting, according to the bank.

In overseas IR, the first of its kind since the launch of the holding company system, Sohn plans to actively communicate with global investors, emphasizing the group's management performance that achieved the record-high the first quarter of the year following the 2018 positive performance and the growth of Woori Financial Group through M&A in the non-banking sector.

By doing so, it can be interpreted that Woori Financial is willing to actively manage its stock price by making efforts to secure new investments as well as maintaining friendly relations with existing investors.

Last year, Sohn conducted overseas IRs in major international financial cities, including London, Stockholm, Hong Kong and Singapore, explaining his mid- and long-term vision after the transition to the holding company system. This has also contributed to the successful launch of the holding company this year by drawing positive responses from overseas investors.

An official at Woori Finance Holdings said that global investors are increasingly interested in investment, with foreign ownership increasing by more than 2 percent this year, adding that Shon's overseas IR will be a good opportunity to consolidate trust in Woori Financial Group from long-term investors.

In the meantime, Woori Financial Group launched the Global Social Service on June 4 at the National Pension Service Complex in Jeonju, South Jeolla Province with a host of dignitaries in attendance led by Chairman Sohn Tae-seung, Chairman Kim Song-joo of the pension complex, among others.

A total of some 50 members of the financial group and the pension complex has been scheduled to visit Cambodia from June 16 to 21 to provide social services in the S.E. Asian country in cooperation with Copion, an international development support organization, the financial group said.

The social service projects that they are scheduled to undertake include the installation of a playground at a public school, a futsal facility, and others during the four-night and six-day visit.

The financial group has been at work to expand its international social service to win the trust and love the local communities of the countries the group has operations to secure its position as a global financial group. During their stay, a number of Cambodian multinational families will be invited to visit Cambodia.