ASIAN BANKS
The Republic of Korea dominatesEuromoney's 1996 table of the top Asian banks with 21 entrants, 11 ofwhich appear in the top 50. Only Housing & Commercial Bank rises, however, up28 places to 55, with equity almost doubled at $880 million from $469 million.Government ownership was reduced to 46.8% following an initial public offering(IPO) in January, when the bank changed its name from Korea Housing Bank toreflect its new commercial status.
Among the 20 Korean banks that lost ground, Korea Exchange Bank, at 16, isthe republic's largest commercial bank with shareholders' equity standing at $2.9billion, ranking second behind Korea Development Bank. A breakdown by totalassets sets Korea Exchange Bank above its peers at $70 billion (up from $55billion according to last year's figures). Also worth noting are Shinhan Bank,whose equity is up to $2.3 billion from $1.9 billion after last year's rightsissue, and Kookmin Bank, which brought two share issues to the market in 1995,reducing the government's stake to 23.94% and raising the bank's equity from $1billion to $1.5