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Kookmin Bank (Korean: 국민은행), also known as KB Kookmin Bank, is a bank headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. It was the largest bank in Korea and the 60th largest in the world as of 2017.[1] The name Kookmin Bank is a contraction of Citizens National Bank, an English name by which it also used to be referred to in the past.

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Kookmin Bank
Company typeSubsidiary
Industryfinancial sector Edit this on Wikidata
Founded1 November 1963; 61 years ago (1963-11-01)
HeadquartersSeoul, South Korea
Key people
Hur Yin, (CEO)
ProductsFinancial services
Number of employees
26,000
ParentKB Financial Group
Korean name
Hangul
국민은행
Hanja
國民銀行
Revised RomanizationGungmin Eunhaeng
McCune–ReischauerKungmin Ŭnhaeng
Websiteomoney.kbstar.com
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History

The Citizens National Bank was founded by the Korean government in late 1962,[2]:43 initially focused on providing financial services for middle- and low-income consumers. Its privatization process was initiated by the sale of a 10 percent stake by initial public offering in 1994.[3]:35 Meanwhile, Kookmin Bank expanded abroad by opening operations in Luxembourg in 1991, Tokyo in 1992, Singapore in 1994, and Hong Kong in 1996, followed by other locations around the world.[4]

Following the 1997 Asian financial crisis, Kookmin Bank absorbed a number of distressed or insolvent banks, including Daedong Bank in 1998, then Long-Term Credit Bank as announced on 11 September 1998,[5] then Housing & Commercial Bank [ko] in 2001.[6]:32 In May 1999, Goldman Sachs invested $500 million into KB and became its largest single shareholder with a 17 percent equity stake, ahead of the Korean government which at the time held 7.2 percent.[7] By 2002, Goldman Sachs had sold most of its investment with a significant profit.[8] At that point, Kookmin had become the largest bank in South Korea.[9]:35 The privatization process was completed in December 2003.[10]:65

In September 2004, Kookmin Bank said it would restate its 2003 and 2004 earnings after a financial watchdog found that the bank avoided $270 million in taxes.[11]

KB further acquired various companies include credit card, insurance and brokerage firms, transforming into the current financial group in 2008.[12]

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See also

References

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