Korea Institute of Finance

Financial Research Brief

26-19 Oct 24, 2026

Korean Banks' Growth Strategies: Assessment and Recommendations

Korean banks have historically pursued growth by taking on risks, with less emphasis on prudent risk management. This approach has helped them achieve a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.19% in assets since the global financial crisis, well above nominal GDP growth of 4.52% over the same period. However, growth strategies focused solely on expanding assets have limits when it comes to enhancing bank value. As of the end of 2025, Korea’s four largest banking groups had an average price-to-...

Financial Review Woojin Kim

Developing an AI Training and Certification Framework for the Korean Financial Sector

Policy Issue in Focus Christopher Byungho Suh

Addressing Size-Related Gaps in AI Transformation: Policy Implications for the Korean Financial Sector

Policy Issue in Focus YongKi Hong

A Widening Growth Divide: Corporate Lending Risks in Vulnerable Sectors

Policy Issue in Focus Yong-Sang Shyn

Expanded Macroeconomic and Financial Meeting

News Briefs KIF

Redesigning the Overseas Expansion Strategy of Korean Financial Institutions

This report proposes a redesign of the overseas expansion strategy of Korean financial institutions as a way out of the weakening earnings base of the domestic financial industry, which stems from low fertility, population aging, and slow growth. Their overseas expansion is found to be concentrated in Asia, notably China and Southeast Asia; to consist largely of accompanying Korean corporate clients abroad and serving them as its principal customer base; to rely on greenfield entry through newly...

20260930 Haesik Park ·Seok Ki Kim ·Byungyoon Lee

Strategic Directions and Implications of Global Banking Groups Before and After the Pandemic: Focusing on RWA

The RWA growth rate of domestic banking groups averaged 2.25% during the pandemic and 7.13% during the non-pandemic period. On the other hand, for global banking groups, the average RWA growth rate during the pandemic was 5.9%, rather higher than the average growth rate of 5.5% during the non-pandemic period. In Korea, expansionary equilibrium is typically achieved in normal times, and due to a lack of growth resources and tightened capital regulations, it is difficult to take the risk of signif...

20260917 Kim Woojin, Lee Tai-Ki

Strengthening the Competitiveness of Japan's Regional Banks: Institutional Reforms and Implications

Korea's regional banks face weakening business foundations due to low birth rates, population decline, Seoul-area concentration, and declining local industries. Japan, facing similar problems earlier, expanded banks' ancillary businesses and subsidiaries into regional development and sustainability fields through its 2021 Banking Act amendment, giving rise to models such as regional trading companies, renewable energy, talent placement, and digital transformation. Japan also enacted a special an...

20260824 Byungyoon Lee, Seok Ki Kim, Haesik Park

An Analysis of the Bank?Firm Lending Bipartite Network in Korea

This study constructs bank?firm lending relationships in Korea as a bipartite network and analyzes the indirect interconnections among banks formed through common borrowers. While previous studies on financial networks in Korea have mainly focused on one-mode networks, this study identifies interbank interconnectedness arising from corporate lending relationships. The results show that multiple lending relationships, in which more than one bank provides loans to the same firm, are widespread in...

20260807 Jean Lim

The Role of Shared Growth and Inclusive Finance

Can inclusive finance generate a virtuous cycle of shared growth by simultaneously improving economic growth and income distribution? According to the World Bank (2020) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (2019, 2023), constraints on financial access exist in both developing and advanced economies, posing a threat to economic growth. In advanced economies in particular, while average financial accessibility has improved, polarization in financial access has intensified...

20260529 Jabonn Kim

Dividend Payment Frequency and Systematic Risk (Beta): Evidence from Korean Listed Firm

This study empirically examines the relationship between dividend payment frequency and the systematic risk (beta coefficient) of Korean listed firms. Using an unbalanced panel dataset comprising 10,715 firm-year observations for 1,640 non-financial firms listed on KOSPI and KOSDAQ from 2010 to 2024, we employ panel OLS regression alongside quasi-experimental approaches including difference-in-differences (DID) and propensity score matching (PSM). The analytical framework draws on information si...

20260529 Taiki Lee, Woojin Kim