South Korean banks reveal 2010 plans

Big lenders are readying for fresh challenges as economy rebounds from crisis.

Major banks are mapping up business plans for next year that focus on profitability, mergers and acquisitions, securing greater synergy through financial holding companies, overseas expansion and a continued emphasis on risk management, according to industry officials.

Kookmin Bank, the industry's largest by assets, expects net interest margins and credit costs to improve through 2010, as it recovers from the global banking crisis, according to Korea Herald.

Korea Exchange Bank, owned by Lone Star, is widely expected to be sold, with Kookmin, Hana Bank and Korea Development Bank as prospective buyers.

State-controlled Woori Financial Group, the holding company of Woori Bank, is set to be privatised.

Meanwhile, the Financial Services Commission, the nation's primary financial watchdog, is moving to control local banks' loan-deposit ratios in another piece of measures aimed at strengthening banks' capital soundness.