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Woori Bank

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Woori Bank
Native name
주식회사 우리은행
FormerlyHanvit Bank
Company typeSubsidiary
IndustryFinancial services
Founded30 January 1899; 125 years ago (1899-01-30)
HeadquartersJung-gu,
Seoul
,
South Korea
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Kwang-Seok Kwon, (President & Chief Executive Officer)
Byeong-Yong Jang (Standing Audit Committee Member/Director)
ProductsConsumer banking, corporate banking, insurance, investment banking, mortgage loans, private banking, private equity, wealth management, credit cards
RevenueIncrease ₩12,532 billion (FY 2019)[1]
Increase ₩2,800 billion (FY 2019)[1]
Decrease ₩2,038 billion (FY 2019)[1]
Total assetsIncrease ₩361,981 billion (FY 2019)[1]
Total equityIncrease ₩25,493 billion (FY 2019)[1]
Number of employees
15,529 (2019)[1]
ParentWoori Financial Group
RatingMoody's: A1
S&P: A
Fitch: A-
Websitego.wooribank.com

Woori Bank (Korean: 우리은행, romanized: Uri Eunhaeng, lit. 'Our Bank') is a Korean multinational bank headquartered in Seoul. It is one of the four largest domestic banks in South Korea and has a strong presence in commercial banking and corporate finance in the Republic of Korea. Tracing its roots to the Daehan Cheon-il Bank, founded in 1899, it went through multiple transformations until adopting its current name in 2002. By then, it was South Korea's second-largest bank, behind Kookmin Bank.[2]: 35 

Woori Bank is known as the first South Korean bank to support web browsers other than Internet Explorer for online banking[3][4] in Korea.

As of 2020, Woori ranks 95th among the largest banks in the world in terms of total assets with 311,852 billion in USD as of the end of 2019.[citation needed]

History

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Woori Bank traces its origins to the establishment of Daehan Cheon-il Bank in 1899, subsequently renamed Joseon Commercial Bank in 1911 and Korea Commercial Bank in 1950. Woori Bank's Jongno branch is located in the Gwangtonggwan building, which is considered the oldest continuously operating bank building in Korea.[5] On March 5, 2001, the branch was registered as a Seoul City Historic Landmark.[6]

Following the 1997 Asian financial crisis, Korea Commercial Bank merged with Hanil Bank to become Hanvit Bank, simultaneously with a public capital injection that made the Korean government the dominant shareholder, then in 2001 with Peace Bank, and adopted the name Woori Bank in 2002. In 2014, after some amalgamation proceedings related to its parent company, Woori Bank absorbed Woori Financial Group.[citation needed]

The privatization process was a protracted effort. The Korean government reduced its equity holding in Woori Bank in stages, selling a 29.7 percent block in November 2016,[7] another 9.3 percent in November 2021,[8] and its residual holding in March 2024.[9]

Business

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Branches

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The following lists all major offices and branches. All data are as of the end of January 2018 for Overseas and June 2020 for South Korea.

Domestic

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Woori Bank Jongno Banking Center
  • Number of branches and offices: 862

Overseas

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Woori Bank in West Java, Indonesia
Woori Bank in Beijing

In 2004, Woori Bank opened its Gaeseong Industrial Complex branch, in Gaeseong, North Korea, the first foreign bank to do so in North Korea. Woori Bank has operations in Bangladesh, India and Indonesia. On 14 March 2012, its Indonesian subsidiary, Bank Woori Indonesia, announced a plan to merge with a local bank, Bank Saudara.[10] In April 2012, Woori Bank opened its first branch in India at Chennai.[11]

Clientele

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Woori Bank has major clientele from all over South Korea, including but not limited to: Samsung Electronics, CJ Group, Hanwha, Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), Yonsei University, and Korean University of Foreign Studies (HUFS).

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ a b c d e f "Woori Financial Group Inc. 2020 Annual Report (Form 20-F)". sec.gov. United States Securities and Exchange Commission. Retrieved 15 August 2020.
  2. ^ Takatoshi Ito and Yuko Hashimoto (5 February 2007), Bank Restructuring in Asia: Crisis management in the aftermath of the Asian financial crisis and prospects for crisis prevention -Korea- (PDF), Tokyo: RIETI
  3. ^ 이 (Lee), 현정 (Hyeon-jeong) (2010-07-08). 우리銀, '우리오픈뱅킹 서비스' 실시. 아시아 경제 (Asian Economics) (in Korean). Retrieved 2010-07-13.
  4. ^ "우리은행". Archived from the original on 2011-07-18. Retrieved 2010-07-13.
  5. ^ Lee, Jun-Ho (2005-08-14). "最古 은행건물 우리銀 종로점 (The Oldest Bank Building the Woori Bank Jongno Branch)". Kyunghyang Sinmun.
  6. ^ "광통관 (廣通館) (Gwangtonggwan)". Cultural Heritage Administration of Korea. 2002. Retrieved 2009-04-05.
  7. ^ "Korean Government sells its 29.7% stake in Woori Bank". UNCTAD. 13 November 2016.
  8. ^ Jung, Min-kyung (22 November 2021). "Woori Financial Group fully privatized after 23 years: FSC". The Korea Herald. Archived from the original on 19 July 2023. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
  9. ^ Lee Yeon-woo (14 March 2024). "Woori Financial Group completes privatization with full buyback of gov't's last shares".
  10. ^ "Bank Saudara and Woori Indonesia Set to Merge", The Jakarta Globe, 14 December 2012
  11. ^ First branch in India, opened at Chennai (2012-04-18). "Woori Bank opens in India". The Hindu. Chennai, India. Retrieved 23 September 2012.
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