ABN AMRO appoints new Korea chief

ABN AMRO has hired Kyung-Hee Yoon to run the bank in Korea and become Chairman of the Korean Country Management Committee. The appointment comes as the bank is trying to increase it onshore presence in Korea to try to replicate the success it has in Taiwan. The lack of a chief severely hampered these ambitions and it is understood the bank had been trying to fill the position for some time.

Yoon comes to ABN from archrival ING where he was country manager and managing director of ING Korea, focusing on investment banking and corporate finance. He was with ING for six years. At ABN he will report to Richard Orders, the regional country coverage head and Chairman of the Asia Business Committee.

"We are delighted that Mr Yoon is joining ABN AMRO in Korea," Orders says. "We believe that with his experience and excellent relationships with corporates and government agencies, he will provide the leadership required to continue the significant progress we have made in recent years."

Over the past year ABN has been active in Korea doing equity deals for KEPCO, subordinated debt deals for Chohung Bank, Kookmin Bank and POSCO, as well as securitisations for Samsung and Korea Express. It has also been bulking up on the securities side hiring the legendary David Bouckley to the position of head of Korea country product and senior sales trader as well as six others to the equities team.

The bank confirms that it will be looking to hire more people in Korea in coming months.