Chairman Kim Jung-tai of Hana Financial Group. (Photo: HFG)

Hana Financial Group boasts 199 financial networks in 24 countries as of May 31, including such global financial centers as New York, London, and Singapore. The financial group has been building its own financial network in each country they are operating in with a special financial operation compatible with the respective local financial market.

The financial group intends to lead the global financial market fraught with all kinds of changes with the strategy for localization of its operation in each country they operate in. The bank will take advantage of its global financial experience, strengthened with digital reform, so that it will firm up its position as a global financial leader.

The finance group has a two-track global strategy to expand its current operations, take up M&As and invest in promising financial firms. The group has been working on a plan to expand its financial networks in Myanmar and Indonesia.

A combination of globalization and localization, ‘glocalization’ embodies the group’s basic principles of openness and diversity.

The group’s strategy to explore and expand overseas financial markets goes back over a decade.

On Jan. 11, 2014, Hana Financial Group held a 'Start 2014' event. Attended by 12,000 executives and employees, the event served as an occasion to promulgate the Group's new vision, 'The Trusted Premiere Global Financial Group', and to make the pledge to grow Hana Financial Group a top-tier global financial group trusted by its shareholders and customers.

PT Bank Hana’s operation in Indonesia commenced in 2007 with the acquisition of PT Bank Bintang Manunggal. The group took further action to expand its local presence in the S.E. Asian country, this time by merging with local operations of the Korea Exchange Bank, which was merged with Hana Bank in 2014 to be renamed as KEB Hana Bank.

The Indonesia local subsidiary emerged among the 30 largest banks in Indonesia, boasting 2.8 trillion won in loans outstanding with 2 trillion won in deposits. Its net profit came to 43.6 billion won as of the end of 2018 doubled the same figures at the time of merger in 2014 and thus was picked as one of the most successful samples of Korean banks overseas.

Indeed, the Group hires most of the employees for its overseas operations from local communities. For instance, of the 255 employees at the Group’s Indonesian subsidiary, 98% are Indonesians, including three of the five members of the Board of Directors.

Such a prudent approach in local markets has proven highly effective, as PT Bank Hana is already turning a profit after only two years in operation.

As early as 2007, Hana Financial Group established a subsidiary in China, Hana Bank China, which now has 13 branches in the world’s most populous market. In 2009, Hana Bank China was licensed to perform transactions involving China’s currency, the Renminbi, as well as debit card transactions.

A year later, Hana Financial Group acquired an 18% stake in the Bank of Jilin Co. Ltd, solidifying its growing network of retail bank outlets in the region. The largest single investment in the Group’s history, this strategic partnership will give Hana Financial Group access to the branch network of China’s second largest bank.

The group has been strengthening its operations in other ASEAN countries including Vietnam, the Philippines and Singapore in the investment banking area.

Hana Financial Group has been further stepping up its reach around the world in an effort to rank among the top 50 global financial firms, the group said recently.

Right now, the financial group has been working to build its financial network in Asia, linking China, Hong Kong, Vietnam, India, Indonesia, Singapore, and the Philippines. In 2015, the financial group expanded its financial operations in other regions including the United States and Europe.

Hana’s global operations can be divided into four regions: the Chinese sphere, the Southeast Asian sphere, the North American sphere, and the European sphere, with the group aiming to expand the overseas share of its assets to 10 percent and earnings to 15 percent of the total by 2025.

The key word for the group’s overseas operation is localization. It has been pushing the strategy hard in such countries as China, Indonesia, and Canada. The two key affiliates of the group.

Hana Bank has also been busy expanding its financial activities in cooperation with Jilin Bank in Jilin, in northeastern China, in which the Korean bank recently acquired a stake, taking advantage of the local bank’s financial network in the region and developing products suitable to local customers jointly with Jilin Bank. The two banks also plan to cooperate in their overseas operations, especially in North America where there are large Chinese communities.

PT Bank Hana, a wholly-owned subsidiary in Indonesia, has been operating both retail and corporate banking, while PT KEB Indonesia has been focused on Korean firms operating in Indonesia with its 37 banking outlets in the Southeast Asian country.