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BNI to open branch in South Korea
State-owned lender PT Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI) is slated to open a branch in South Korea, a top commissioner from Financial Services Authority (OJK) says
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tate-owned lender PT Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI) is slated to open a branch in South Korea, a top commissioner from Financial Services Authority (OJK) says.
'The [financial] authority governor of South Korea has issued a permit to Bank BNI to operate in Seoul,' said chairman of the OJK's board of commissioners Muliaman D Hadad on Thursday as quoted by Antara news agency.
South Korea is deemed important as its investments in Indonesia are among top 10 largest. Trade activities between the two countries amounted to over US$20 billion in 2013.
The expansion of the national bank was given a green light following the signing of a joint agreement between Indonesia and South Korea on increasing supervision capacity and information exchange between financial service authorities from both countries.
The permit is reciprocal, as South Korea's Shinhan Bank has been permitted to acquire 40 percent stake in Indonesia's Metro Express Bank in return.
'We have issued the permit as the first step, and we will issue an official permit after examining the requirements they have fulfilled to open a business [in South Korea],' said the South Korea Financial Supervisory Services (FSS) Governor Zhin Woong-seob.
He promised to expedite the issuance of the permit for a BNI branch in South Korea as he believed that the bank would benefit Indonesians and South Koreans.
'We try not to discriminate against foreign and local banks,' he concluded.
BNI announced earlier that it was expanding its reach into overseas markets. The bank's current international presence spreads from London, New York, Singapore and Tokyo to Hong Kong. (fsu)
