Kookmin Bank (), also known as KB Kookmin Bank, is a bank headquartered in

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

, South Korea. It was the largest bank in Korea and the 60th largest in the world as of 2017. The name Kookmin Bank is a contraction of Citizens National Bank, an English name by which it also used to be referred to in the past.

History

The Citizens National Bank was founded by the Korean government in late 1962, initially focused on providing financial services for middle- and low-income consumers. Its privatization process was initiated by the sale of a 10 percent stake by

initial public offering An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investm ...

in 1994. Meanwhile, Kookmin Bank expanded abroad by opening operations in Luxembourg in 1991,

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

in 1992, Singapore in 1994, and

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

in 1996, followed by other locations around the world. Following the

1997 Asian financial crisis The 1997 Asian financial crisis gripped much of East Asia, East and Southeast Asia during the late 1990s. The crisis began in Thailand in July 1997 before spreading to several other countries with a ripple effect, raising fears of a worldwide eco ...

, Kookmin Bank absorbed a number of distressed or insolvent banks, including Daedong Bank in 1998, then Long-Term Credit Bank as announced on , then in 2001. In May 1999,

Goldman Sachs The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs is headquartered in Lower Manhattan in New York City, with regional headquarters in many internationa ...

invested $500 million into KB and became its largest single shareholder with a 17 percent equity stake, ahead of the Korean government which at the time held 7.2 percent. By 2002, Goldman Sachs had sold most of its investment with a significant profit. At that point, Kookmin had become the largest bank in South Korea. The privatization process was completed in December 2003. In September 2004, Kookmin Bank said it would restate its 2003 and 2004 earnings after a financial watchdog found that the bank avoided $270 million in taxes. KB further acquired various companies include credit card,

insurance Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss in which, in exchange for a fee, a party agrees to compensate another party in the event of a certain loss, damage, or injury. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to protect ...

and

brokerage firm A broker is a person or entity that arranges transactions between a Purchasing, buyer and a sales, seller. This may be done for a commission (remuneration), commission when the deal is executed. A broker who also acts as a seller or as a buyer b ...

s, transforming into the current financial group in 2008.

References

External links

Official Website
Banks of South Korea Companies based in Seoul South Korean brands Multinational companies headquartered in South Korea Banks established in 1963 South Korean companies established in 1963 {{SouthKorea-company-stub

History

See also

References

External links