| Headquarters of Hana Financial Group (left) and KB Financial Group (Courtesy of the firms) |
Hana Financial Group and KB Financial Group, two of the top financial conglomerates based in South Korea, executed year-end reshuffles Thursday, highlighting future growth and digital innovation.
Hana Financial launched a unit for future growth, integrating the existing strategy, digital and brand divisions. Vice Chairman Lee Seung-lyul is to oversee the unit. Vice Chairman Lee Eun-hyung will take over the global business, along with environmental, governmental, and social initiatives.
The firm further integrated retail, wealth management and corporate investment banking divisions under the newly established Synergy unit. In the Synergy unit, a separate division for capital markets will be created to change the paradigm of banking from liabilities to capital, the firm explained.
Under such initiatives, Hana Bank, a lender under the group, will strengthen its Hana The Next -- an in-house brand launched through a collaboration of its key affiliates including Hana Bank -- Hana Securities and Hana Insurance. The brand provides tailor-made services for senior customers.
Meanwhile, KB Financial strengthened the digital and artificial intelligence teams by launching the Digital Innovation unit, which will be the control tower for all sectors of digital platforms, AI and data. It has divided its finance AI center into two to gain an edge in AI technologies and apply generative AI technology to its financial services. The two centers will be run by former executives at LG AI Research and NC Soft.
Outgoing KB Kookmin Bank CEO Lee Jae-keun will lead the global business while KB Kookmin Card CEO Lee Chang-kwon is set to take over the digital division at the holdings company.
