Hana Financial Group is strengthening its cooperation with UK-based Standard Chartered (SC) on global business and digital assets, including stablecoins. The move aims to enhance global competitiveness and identify new growth opportunities.
Hana Financial announced on the 15th that it signed a strategic memorandum of understanding (MOU) with SC at Hana Bank's headquarters in Jung-gu, Seoul, on the 13th.
The two companies agreed to expand collaboration across various global businesses, including investment banking (IB), money markets, and foreign exchange. They also plan to create synergies through mutual cooperation on digital assets, including stablecoins.
The signing ceremony was attended by Hana Financial Group Chairman Ham Young-joo, SC Group Chairman Bill Winters, and senior executives from both companies, who exchanged views on cooperation in global finance and digital assets.
"The extensive global networks, diverse financial expertise, and partnerships that Hana Financial Group and SC possess will become a powerful competitive advantage in global finance," Ham said. "We will create new growth opportunities through synergies in future financial areas, including digital assets."
Winters, who attended the event, emphasized, "Korea is a key hub in Asian financial markets, and cooperation with Hana Financial Group, which has a strong presence in global markets, will be an important milestone for our global network business."
Market observers expect Hana Financial to accelerate its digital asset initiatives following this partnership. Analysts suggest the alliance with SC reflects the necessity of global cooperation for utilizing not only Korean won-denominated stablecoins but also dollar-denominated stablecoins. SC has been expanding its digital asset business across multiple countries, including custody services in the Middle East and Europe.
Hana Financial recently formed a consortium with BNK Financial, iM Financial, and SC First Bank to issue won-denominated stablecoins. The group has also completed overseas remittance tests using deposit tokens on "GIWA," the blockchain network of cryptocurrency exchange Dunamu.
Chairman Ham views stablecoins as a core future business. In his New Year's address in January, he stated, "We must proactively design and preemptively build an ecosystem encompassing the issuance, distribution, use, and circulation of (won-denominated stable) coins."
During the 2025 annual earnings presentation the same month, he emphasized, "I believe we can find new growth opportunities in stablecoins. Changes that can fundamentally transform the financial paradigm are about to begin."
A Hana Financial official said, "We are leading the construction of future financial ecosystems, including digital assets, through partnerships with various domestic and international players. By combining both companies' overseas networks and financial capabilities, we expect to strengthen global competitiveness and discover new growth opportunities."