Citibank Proposes 'Up to 700 Million' Voluntary Retirement Plan to Union... Is Sale Accelerating?

Seoul Jongno-gu Korea Citibank Headquarters. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung

[Asia Economy Reporter Song Seung-seop] It has been confirmed that Citibank Korea has proposed a voluntary retirement plan to its employees that compensates them with their remaining salary until retirement age. It is anticipated that once negotiations with the labor union, set to begin next week, conclude, the sale negotiations for Citibank's retail banking division will accelerate rapidly.

According to banking sources on the 28th, Citibank delivered the voluntary retirement plan to the labor union yesterday afternoon. The target group includes regular employees or indefinite-term dedicated employees with more than three years of service. If more than five years remain until retirement age, the employee will receive a special retirement payment equivalent to 90% of their maximum monthly salary.

If less than five years remain, the payment is calculated by multiplying the remaining months by the monthly salary. The retirement payment is capped at seven times the base annual salary, with a maximum limit of 700 million KRW.

Additionally, if the employee has children who are university students or younger, a scholarship of 10 million KRW per child (up to two children) will be provided, along with career transition support services. For three years after retirement, comprehensive health check-ups including spouses will also be available.

Labor-management negotiations are scheduled to begin next week. Depending on the outcome, the outline of Citibank's retail banking exit strategy will be drawn. Initially, Citibank planned to decide on the retail banking sale method in July, but the schedule was delayed due to concerns from potential acquiring financial institutions regarding employment succession burdens.

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