Dignitaries, including Shinhan Bank President Wi Sung-ho and Vice Chairman Fernando Rodriegez Antuna of the Financial Committee of Mexico, attend a ribbon-cutting ceremony to open Shinhan Bank’s operation in Mexico in Mexico City on March 6. (Photo: Shinhan Bank)

Shinhan Bank has become the first Korean bank to enter South America for operation by opening the Shinhan Bank Mexico, a wholly-owned local subsidiary in the major Latin American country on Mar. 6, the bank said on Mar 7.
Attending a ceremony in Mexico City included President Wi Sung-ho, Vice Chairman Fernando Rodriguez Antuna of the Financial Committee of Mexico and high-ranking officials of the Ministry of Finance of Mexico, the Mexican Central Bank, and the Association of Mexican Banks, Korean Ambassador to Mexico Kim Sang-il, Manager Yang Kuk-bo of KOTRA Central and Latin American Regional Office in Mexico City, and Chairman Chang Won of the Overseas Korean Trading Association, among others, totaling some 120.
The bank started to prepare for the opening of the local Mexican subsidiary from the middle of January in earnest and later got the official approval of the Mexican financial authorities for the local subsidiary to work full time for the opening.
The bank set up its rep office in Mexico in November, 2008, learning the potentials that the Latin American country has as a financial market.
The bank started to work on setting up the wholly-owned local subsidiary in Mexico, in December, last year, two years after it got the preliminary license to engage in the financial operation from the Mexican financial authorities in September, 2015.
Located down south of the border with the U.S., Mexico enjoys the geographical advantages of being the nearest production base to supply products to the U.S with so many foreign companies operating their plants in the country. A number of Korean companies operate their plants in Mexico including Samsung Electronics, Hyundai Motor and POSCO, to name some.
The bank plans to first provide banking services to the Korean community in the country including the expatriate Korean companies, their cooperative firms until 2019. The bank will then extend its financial services to the business firms owned and operated by the local Korean residents mainly the retail financial services until 2021. The bank then will shift its business to catering to local individuals providing retail loans from 2022.
Shinhan Bank is a bank headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. Historically it was the first bank in Korea, established under the name Hanseong Bank in 1897. The bank was reestablished in 1982. It is part of the Shinhan Financial Group, along with Jeju Bank. Chohung Bank merged with Shinhan Bank on April 1, 2006.
Shinhan Bank started as a small enterprise with a capital stock of KRW 25.0 billion, 279 employees, and three branches on July 7, 1982. Today, it has transformed itself into a large bank, boasting total assets of KRW 176.9 trillion, equity capital of KRW 9.7 trillion, 10,741 employees, and 1,026 branches as of 2006. As of June 30, 2016, Shinhan Bank had total assets of KRW 298.945 trillion (US$260 billion), total deposits of KRW 221.047 trillion (US$192 billion) and loans of KRW 212.228 trillion (US$184 billion). Shinhan Bank is the main subsidiary of Shinhan Financial Group[SFG].
Shinhan Bank is the descendant of Hanseong Bank, the first modern bank in Korea. It was established by Kim Jong-Han in 1897, but began operating around 1900. It was originally located in a small house with only two rooms. One room was for the president, Yi Jae-Won, and the other room was for the staff. The bank operated by borrowing money from Japanese banks at low interest rates and then loaning it out for twice the rate to the Korean market.
The Bank was successful because despite lending out money at twice the rate it borrowed it at, the bank's interest rates were still far lower than what could be obtained elsewhere in Korea at that time.