Iran's Largest Lender Applies To Open Seoul Unit
Bank Mellat, Iran's largest lender, officially filed for an application on Friday to open a subsidiary in South Korea, the country's top financial watchdog said.
"Iran's Bank Mellat has submitted an application to the financial authority to change its current Seoul branch into a wholly-owned banking subsidiary," the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) said in a statement.T
The official application came after the Iranian bank, also the world's 419th-largest lender by assets, was found in early December to have been pursuing opening a subsidiary in South Korea, the first time for a foreign lender to set up such a subsidiary in the country.
Preliminarily dubbed Mellat International Bank, the unit will operate with 104 billion won (US$100 million) in paid-in capital and bolster economic cooperation between South Korea and Iran, the FSC said in the statement. It usually takes two months for the country's financial watchdog to give final approval, analysts said.
Bank Mellat opened a branch office in South Korea in June 2001 that has 25 staff and handles trade finance. It also operates eight overseas branches in the United States, Turkey and other countries.
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