Woori Finance Holdings Co., South Korea’s No. 2 banking group, ranked 72nd last year on the list of the world’s 1,000 largest lenders by core capital, the highest spot among local lenders, the central bank said Wednesday.

A total of nine South Korean banks made the list last year, the same number as the year before, the Bank of Korea said in a report based on the July edition of The Banker magazine.

KB Financial Group, Korea’s top financial services company, placed 74th in 2010, down from 69th the previous year. Its rival Shinhan Financial Group Co. rose nine notches to rank 78th last year, the report showed.

Seven financial firms including No. 4 banking group Hana Financial Group Inc. saw their ranking climb from the previous year, while two players’ global rankings declined from a year earlier.


(Yonhap News)