HANOVER, N.J. — For the first time, the top five banks offering the largest loan portfolios in South Korea are all foreign companies.
While the top three foreign banks offer some loans in the United States and Canada, the four others are from South Korea, where the average borrower is about five years old.
Here are the five top foreign banks offering large loan portfolios to South Koreans:Hyundai Finance — $1.6 trillionThe Korean conglomerate is one of the top lenders in South Korean capital markets and has made a lot of headway in providing loans to businesses in the past decade.
Its average loan portfolio in the country is about $2.5 billion.
It’s the largest company in Hyundai Finance and its average loan rate is nearly 50%.
The company also has about $8 billion in overseas assets, including a $2 billion foreign-investment portfolio, as well as an Asian headquarters in Dubai.
United Financial Group — $2 trillionUnited Financial is one the largest lenders in Korea and has a massive $5.5 trillion foreign-asset portfolio.
It also has large foreign assets and investments in South America, including $400 million in a South American bank, $3.5 million in South Africa, and $6.5,000 in Brazil.
The top four foreign lenders have about $4.7 billion in assets in South Asia, including the $2 million in Brazil and $1 million in China.
Bancorp UBS — $3 trillionBancor, the world’s largest bond trading and savings and loan trading company, is one among the top foreign lenders in the Korean capital market.
Its $3 billion portfolio is the second largest in the world, behind JPMorgan Chase.
Its median loan rate for loans is about 25%.
Bancors portfolio has about two-thirds of its assets in the Asian nation of South Korea.
The other two-third is held in South China, Taiwan and Japan.
Bank of America Merrill Lynch — $4 trillionThe investment banking arm of Bank of Ameritrade, the second-largest bank in the U.S., has about three-quarters of its foreign-owned assets in Asia.
The company has about 80% of its Asian assets in foreign-backed securities, and the remaining 20% is held overseas.
The bank is the only major U.N.-backed bank that does not have any U.K. assets.
Banks are the major source of financing for South Korea’s banking system.
There are more than 1.2 million banks in the South Korean financial system, with an average of about $500 million in assets.
The Korean government has also been encouraging companies to create jobs.
The government is trying to make Korea’s economy more dynamic and open by investing in infrastructure and education.
The Bank of Korea has been the most successful in attracting foreign direct investment.
