(LEAD) KEB Hana Bank sets sail to become S. Korea's No. 1 lender

(ATTN: UPDATES with comments in paras 5-6, 11-12)
By Kim Boram and Kim You Jin

SEOUL, Sept. 1 (Yonhap) -- KEB Hana Bank, the merged entity between Hana Bank and Korea Exchange Bank (KEB), began operations on Tuesday to become South Korea's leading commercial bank by assets.

Hana Financial Group Inc., the bank's parent company, has made years-long efforts to merge its two flagship bank units since it acquired KEB from U.S. buyout fund Lone Star in 2012.

Despite protests from the KEB's labor union, Hana Financial won final approval from the financial authorities last month for the merger of the two lenders.

Hana Financial Chairman Kim Jung-tai and other ranking group and bank officials gathered at the lender's head office in central Seoul to mark its launch.

"(With the merger,) Hana Financial now has the necessary kit to emerge as one of the world's top financial groups," Kim said during a ceremony marking the launch of the new entity in downtown Seoul.

"Along with an even stronger competence and more synergy, we will help lead the South Korean financial industry to a global level," Kim added.

The launch of KEB Hana Bank is expected to completely change the landscape of the local banking industry as it far outpaces its rivals in terms of assets.

As of end June, KEB Hana Bank had 290 trillion won (US$245 billion) in assets, outstripping rivals Kookmin Bank with 282 trillion won and Shinhan Bank with 260 trillion won.

It has a nationwide network of 945 branches with 15,717 employees, along with 24 overseas offices.

President Ham Young-joo will head the bank for the coming two years to strengthen its leading position in the banking industry by mixing the two institutions' strong points.

"We are looking to create a bank that is not just large in its scale, but is also the best in terms of its quality and contents, and to become a great, innovative and global bank, what's most needed is to strengthen our sales capacity," Ham told reporters during a press conference after the ceremony.

"The physical aspect of the merger was accomplished today, but we will also need to complete our 'chemical integration,'" Ham said, adding that a task force has already been set up to help combine different corporate culture.

KEB Hana Bank said the computer systems of Hana Bank and the KEB will be operated separately until the network integration is completed in June next year.

brk@yna.co.kr
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