JB Financial Appoints Vice Chairman Im Yong-taek as Head of Overseas Business

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyo-jin] JB Financial Group announced that it has appointed Im Yong-taek (photo), former president of Jeonbuk Bank, as the Executive Vice Chairman in charge of the newly established Overseas Business Division of the financial holding company, effective from the 1st.

Since Vice Chairman Im led the acquisition, integration, and management of Phnom Penh Commercial Bank (PPCBank) in Cambodia by Jeonbuk Bank in 2016, JB Financial expects him to play a pivotal role in the group’s overseas business expansion going forward.

Since the establishment of the holding company in 2014, JB Financial selected Southeast Asia as its primary base for overseas expansion, acquiring Phnom Penh Commercial Bank in Cambodia in 2016 and incorporating it as a subsidiary of Jeonbuk Bank. In the same year, it also established a local microfinance subsidiary in Myanmar under JB Woori Capital.

After Chairman Kim Ki-hong’s inauguration, JB Financial acquired Morgan Stanley Gateway Securities (MSGS), a Vietnamese securities firm, at the end of 2019, incorporating it as a subsidiary of Gwangju Bank and renaming it JB Securities Vietnam. The group has set qualitative growth as a core direction and has focused on enhancing profitability.

Meanwhile, JB Financial Group’s net income (consolidated basis) grew by 21.7% from 321 billion KRW in 2018, just before Chairman Kim’s inauguration, to 390.8 billion KRW in 2020. The group’s total assets increased by 14.1%, from 46.7798 trillion KRW at the end of 2018 to 53.3755 trillion KRW at the end of 2020.

At the end of last year, the Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) ratio stood at 10.05%, the only regional bank holding company to exceed 10%. It is expected that the CET1 ratio will rise to about 11% once the internal ratings-based approach is approved in the second half of this year.

JB Financial’s overseas business expansion aligns with this growth trend. The group is expected to actively pursue mergers and acquisitions (M&A) both overseas and domestically. Vice Chairman Im will play a key role in proactively identifying opportunities that will substantially contribute to the group’s qualitative growth.

JB Financial is deepening its business in Cambodia, Myanmar, and Vietnam, where it currently operates, and plans to explore new business opportunities in other Southeast Asian markets where it has not yet entered.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.