Shinhan Bank eyes expansion in Vietnam

The chief of Shinhan Bank named Vietnam among its options for expansion into Southeast Asia in an effort to boost its revenue sources.


"I believe that Shinhan Bank could have competitive edges in China, Japan and Vietnam, into which the bank has made inroads relatively earlier," said Suh Jin-won, president of Shinhan Bank.

"If we are able to do the current credit card business well in Vietnam, we could get an explosive boost from it. ... We are considering expanding our presence in emerging countries. We are open to various options, including takeovers."

Suh earlier said the bank plans to make forays into one or two countries in Asia this year as the local banking markets have almost been saturated. Indonesia and Malaysia are among potential options.

Shinhan plans to increase the portion of income generated from its overseas operations to around 10 percent of its total earnings by 2015, up from the current 3 percent.