The South Korean Financial Services Commission (FSC) has given the go-ahead to Hana Financial Group’s plan of merging its two banking units.
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The merger of the two divisions, Korea Exchange Bank (KEB) and Hana Bank, will result in the creation of a new bank known as KEB Hana Bank.
The new bank, which is the touted to be the nation’s largest lender by assets, is scheduled to be launched on 1 September 2015.
The combined entity will operate with 945 branches in 24 countries, managing KRW290 trillion ($256bn) in assets.
Hana Financial Group had been proposing merger of the two units since it purchased KEB from a US buyout fund in 2012.
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By GlobalDataThe plan was previously opposed by KEB’s labour union, which demanded Hana Financial to deliver on its promise to operate KEB as an independent entity for five years.
However, the proposal was accepted by the union recently after being promised that the deal will keep jobs intact.
