Shinhan gets to work on support for SMEs

Shinhan Financial Group, the country’s largest financial holdings unit, launched a committee to expand financing for promising small- and medium-sized companies (SMEs) following the government’s announcement that it will inject 100 trillion won ($88.6 billion) into that corporate segment.

The committee will consist of around 2,000 employees with Chairman Cho Yong-byoung at the helm. The CEOs of Shinhan’s 14 financial affiliates - including flagship banking unit Shinhan Bank, Shinhan Card and Shinhan Investment - will be tapped as members of a Steering Committee at the top of the body.

The main task of the new team is to revamp loan screening processes at the group’s affiliates including Shinhan Bank and Jeju Bank to facilitate lending to young, tech-focused companies.

The members will work toward strengthening lending to SMEs based on different types of assets. The provision of loans that use machinery assets as securities will be extended, according to the group.

They will also come up with ways to build a credit-rating model to better reflect the value of a company’s technology in a financial assessment.

The pledge came after the group committed 2.1 trillion won - in loans and other forms of funding - last month to SMEs and start-ups with high potential.

Another area of focus is to build an integrated platform to provide information required for public listing and compliance issues.

The move came after the government pledged 100 trillion won over three years to keeping small- and medium-sized companies innovative last week to fulfill President Moon Jae-in’s promise of a “second start-up boom.”

BY PARK EUN-JEE [park.eunjee@joongang.co.kr]