Hana Bank

Korea Exchange Bank was established in 1967 as a government-owned bank specializing in foreign exchange. It was privatized in 1989 and was one of Korea's first commercial banks. During the 2002 FIFA World Cup in Korea and Japan, KEB was the first Korean bank to export Korean won to another nation, by exporting bundles of 10,000 won notes to Japan.

• Jan 1975: Started securities business
• Apr 1978: Launched Korea's first credit card service
• Mar 1983: Issued traveler's cheques
• Feb 1985: Official sponsor bank for 1986 Asian Games & 1988 Summer Olympics
• Apr 1994: Listed on the Korean Stock Exchange
• Dec 1995: Opened foreign exchange research center
• Nov 1999: Opened a foreign exchange website offering exchange rate conversions and foreign exchange services
• Apr 2001: Opened the foreign exchange website FXKEB.COM
• Jun 2002: Introduced ATM services in foreign currency - a first for Korea

Korea Exchange Bank was acquired in 2003 by Lone Star Funds, a private U.S. equity fund, as part of the general reorganization of the South Korean financial sector following the Asian financial crisis. In 2006, Lone Star tried to sell the company to the highest bidder, Kookmin Bank, but the plan was scrapped when it faced investigations by South Korean prosecutors and regulators. In September 2007, HSBC agreed to purchase a controlling stake for $6 billion, but the sale was not approved by the South Korean government. In September 2008, Kookmin Bank and Hana Bank were considered for a takeover of KEB after HSBC failed to acquire the bank in 2007.[1]

• Oct 2003: Acquired by Lone Star Funds
• Feb 2004: Merged Korea Exchange Bank Credit Service Co.
• Aug 2014: Korea Exchange Bank Credit Group Separated from Korea Exchange Bank

In February 2012, Hana Financial Group Inc. completed its ₩4.4 trillion (equivalent to ₩4.68 trillion or US$4.14 billion in 2017)[2] purchase of Korea Exchange Bank from Lone Star Funds and Export-Import Bank of Korea.[3]

• Jan 2015: Launched 1QBank and the 1Q INSTA Card in Canada, becoming the first bank in Canada to offer a prepaid Interac card not linked to a bank account.

After years-long efforts, Hana Financial Group merged Hana Bank and Korea Exchange Bank (KEB) and launched KEB Hana Bank in September 2015.[4]

• Feb 2019: Name changed from KEB Hana Bank to Hana Bank
• Jun 2021: Secured approval from Taiwan's financial authorities to open a branch in Taiwan, making it the first bank from South Korea to set up a foothold in Taiwan.[5]

In 2003, Lone Star Funds tried to acquire Korea Exchange Bank. It was controversial because, according to the Banking Act, a non-financial business operator is not entitled to acquire a bank unless a bank's BIS ratio is below 8%.[9] Consequently, the president of KEB, Kang-won Lee sent a report that Korea Exchange Bank's BIS ratio was assessed as 6.16% as of July 25, 2003. Based on the report, the Financial Supervisory Service approved the acquisition.[10] Hence, Lone Star Funds was able to acquire the bank at the price of about 1.3 billion dollars as of October 2003.

However, after the acquisition, as the stock price of Korea Exchange Bank rose, Lone Star got about $1 billion of appraisal profit within 3 months.[11] Therefore, in the National Assembly inspection of 2005, is arisen the suspicion that Korea Exchange Bank was sold at a significantly lower price than its fair market value because BIS ratio was assessed with the pessimistic scenario, given that KEB's BIS ratio had been assessed between 8.24% and 9.14% according to the three reports written between May 17, 2003, and July 16, 2003.[12] Thus, the National Assembly ordered the Board of Audit and Inspection to investigate the suspicion.

In June 2006, the Board concluded that the BIS ratio of 6.16% was assessed as unreasonably low under the unrealistically pessimistic scenario.[13] Following the conclusion of the Board of Audit and Inspection, in November 2006, the prosecution started an investigation on the issue and prosecuted Kang-won Lee, the former president of Korea Exchange Bank, for breach of duty.[14] In November 2008, the trial court ruled for Lee, and the verdict did not change in both appellate court and the Supreme Court.[15][16]

From January 2006, Lone Star Funds pursued the sale of KEB. However, during the period, there were ongoing investigations and trials regarding KEB, and thus South Korea's financial regulators did not approve each attempt.[17] The disapproval was because the potential possibility of Lone Star's invalid ownership depending on the results of the trial. In September 2007, Lone Star Funds and HSBC had a preliminary agreement for the sale of KEB. However, the Financial Services Commission was still holding off on the approval.[18] After the 2008 global financial crisis, on September 19, 2008, HSBC gave up the acquisition of KEB.[19] Eventually, on February 9, 2012, Lone Star Funds were forced to sell the KEB to Hana Financial Group due to the guilty verdict from the Korea Exchange Bank Credit Service stock manipulation case.

On November 22, 2012, Lone Star brought arbitration against South Korea before the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID).[20] Lone Star Funds alleged the Korean regulatory authorities' failures to approve the purchase by third parties of the claimant's stake in Korea Exchange Bank, and the unfair imposition of arbitrary capital gains taxes on the sale by Korean tax authorities.[21] Lone Star claimed that the delay of approving Lone Star's sale of KEB shares until the forced sale was illegitimate because it was upon the hostility of public opinion against Lone Star Funds, and the delay caused the financial loss because they had lost other chances to sell at a higher price due to the delay. In addition, Lone Star claimed that South Korea's tax authorities applied inconsistent and arbitrary standards for the transfer income tax regarding the sale of KEB shares for the purpose of extracting the maximum amount of taxes from Lone Star.[22][23] For the compensation, Lone Star Funds demands about $4.7 billion, and the arbitration is ongoing in 2020.[24][25]