Citibank Korea to decide on exit plan next week

(Reuters)

Citibank Korea Inc., the South Korean unit of Citigroup Inc., will decide on its exit plan for its retail banking unit next week, an industry source said Tuesday.

Citibank Korea will hold a board meeting Aug. 26 during which the lender will confirm how to sell the retail banking division.

In April, Citigroup said it will exit consumer banking operations in 13 markets, including South Korea, as part of its global business reorganization.

Four financial firms have conducted a due diligence of Citibank Korea's retail banking division, according to the source.

Some potential investors have sought to buy the retail banking division's credit card and wealth management businesses, instead of purchasing the whole division, the source said.

The labor union of Citibank Korea has supported an exit plan to sell the entire retail banking unit.

At the end of last year, Citibank Korea had some 3,500 employees and the lender's retail banking unit had about 2,500.

The US banking giant opened its first branch in South Korea in 1967 and launched Citibank Korea Inc. in 2004 after acquiring KorAm Bank. (Yonhap)