KB Financial Group has opened an IB unit in London after Hong Kong to strengthen its global IB competitiveness at the group level.
KB Kookmin Bank said on March 26 that it has opened its IB Unit at its London branch and started work. The London IB Unit is part of its partnership with financial institutions in Europe to expand its overseas IB business and secure new growth engines in the global market.
KB Kookmin Bank plans to carry out a two-track strategy that conforms to market characteristics in the mid- and long-term. In advanced markets, the bank plans to use the London IB Unit as the bank's global IB hub along with Hong Kong and New York and develop it into a "global investment-type IB" by strengthening its investment and financial capabilities along with expanding global IB operations.
In addition, it plans to participate in selective sales centered on deal, which has secured stability in emerging markets such as Vietnam and Indonesia, real estate development projects linked to Korean conglomerates operating there, and infrastructure financing markets.
By doing so, KB Kookmin Bank will accumulate business capabilities and establish Biz Office, which is responsible for serving as an outpost for each region, based on its experience in arranging the deal, to enhance the bank's status in the global market.
"The global market is very active in the IB market, which can find investment assets and secure new sources of profit, such as commission profits," said Oh Bo-yeol, vice president of the bank's CIB customer group. "If we build performance by securing more overseas network assets through the establishment of the London IB unit, KB Kookmin Bank's influence in the overseas banking market will also increase."
