Woori Bank, South Korea's No. 2 lender, said Wednesday that it has opened a
wholly owned subsidiary in Brazil as part of its overseas expansion drive amid
the saturated domestic market.
Woori Bank said it has established the
banking unit, the bank's sixth wholly owned overseas unit, with paid-in capital
of US$23 million.
The unit was set up after being transferred from its
office established in Sao Paulo in 2009, it added.
The bank said the
move allows it to have overseas business channels in the fast-emerging economies
of Brazil, Russia, India and China, or the so-called BRICs.
South
Korean banks are facing tough business conditions this year as the economic
slowdown and a long streak of low rates have squeezed their profit margins and
steep competition in the banking sector makes it more difficult for them to find
sources of income on the domestic front.