BNP Paribas and Standard Chartered Bank are said to considering exiting South Korean business following other foreign banks. This year, Barclays Capital decided to withdraw its investment banking division, following Citigroup (consumer finance) and Royal Bank of Scotland last year, and HSBC (retail banking) in 2013. UBS has also returned its banking license. According to a report, BNP Paribas is assessing the sustainability of its Korean operations every six months. Standard Chartered had a net loss of $2.36 billion in 2015, the first yearly loss since 1989, because of poor earnings in its Asian operations, including the Korean unit, and soaring losses caused by the fall in commodity prices. At the same time, the number of foreign bank branches is stable at 39, as exits are matched by new entrants or transformations of representative offices into full-fledged branches.
