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‘Fast ones eat slow ones.?.?. It is time for us to become a big, fast, flexible bank.’
November 03, 2009
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Kookmin Bank Chief Executive Officer Kang Chung-won said yesterday the nation’s biggest lender needs to move more quickly and flexibly to avoid becoming a dinosaur, emphasizing the importance of green finance and cooperation with other affiliates in the KB Financial Group. Kang gave the speech to employees at Kookmin’s Yeouido headquarters in western Seoul, celebrating the eighth anniversary of the bank’s integration with the Housing & Commercial Bank of Korea in 2001. “According to a saying in ‘The Art of War,’ it is not a principle that big ones eat small ones. The principle is that fast ones eat slow ones,” Kang said. “Now, it is time for us to become a big, fast and flexible bank.” To do that, Kookmin needs to focus on developing unique products to differentiate itself from its rivals, Kang said. He added that the bank will remain active in “social responsibility businesses” such as green financing to support eco-friendly industries and microcredit, unsecured small loans for low-income people. The CEO emphasized the importance of cooperation with KB’s other financial service affiliates, with the barriers between financial industries lowered by the Capital Market Consolidation Act. KB Financial Group is now eyeing mergers and acquisitions to widen its business scope, perhaps including a purchase of Prudential Investment. The biggest financial company in Korea raised 1 trillion won ($843 million) in July by selling new shares partly to fund acquisitions. In the years after the 1997-98 Asian currency crisis, Kookmin Bank, a state-run lender that was privatized in 1995, took over Daedong Bank, Long-Term Credit Bank and Housing & Commercial Bank, which made it the largest lender by assets in Korea. By Moon So-young [symoon@joongang.co.kr] |
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