Dutch bank opens securities business to serve institutional and corporate clients

ING is set to open a securities branch in Seoul offer capital market products to local and international corporate and institutional clients after receiving the required license from Korea's Financial Services Commission (FSC).

Through securitisation for Korean corporations and institutions, ING will broaden its client base, while the number of investors is expected to increase 'substantially', according to a spokesperson at ING Group.

"ING Korea will expand the client base as well as depth of the business as it comes with full product range, especially [with the addition of] capital market products," said the spokesperson. "The focus of the securities branch will be on origination/structuring, underwriting and distribution, and will cover Korean institutional investor's "wide range of investment activities including structured notes, cash bonds and alternative investment (e.g. European and US structured loans based on various underlying assets, like real estate)."

The Dutch bank which has a 25-year banking record in Korea, 'has built a strong client base' in the country but securities operations require a separate license with the new ING office to bridge a key gap in its institutional client services.

The banks has appointed a dedicated team at the new branch which will be responsible for origination, structuring, underwriting and distributing debt capital market and alternative investment assets to existing and new corporate and institutional clients in Korea.

ING has appointed Son Young Chang (pictured), as the manager of the new securities branch. Son was previously managing director financial markets at ING Bank's Seoul branch.

The new operations will not have any presence on the retail market and will not be involved in equity brokerage or any equity-linked notes, said the spokesperson.

"Korean companies have been expanding and we have seen a growing demand from them for European and US assets in the current low interest rate environment," said Jonghoon Hyun, country manager ING Korea, in a statement.

ING has opened representative offices in Sweden, Colombia, and India (pending regulatory approvals) over the past two years. In Asia, the Dutch upgraded its representative office in Beijing to a branch.

A total of 13,474 products have been added to the SRP Korea database so far in 2016, including 7,659 retail offers and 5,815 products for private banking buyers. The most popular underlying is the Eurostoxx 50, with 6,677 products, followed by the Kospi 200 with 5,873 products and the S&P 500, which underlies 4,402 offers.

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South Korea Market Review - June 2016