The Korea Investment Finance Corporation was established in 1971, and changed its name to Hana Bank as it started banking operations in 1991. In 1998, it acquired Chungcheong Bank, which it rebranded as Chungcheong Hana Bank (later Hana Bank Chungcheong Business Group). In 1999, it merged with . In August 2002, it was announced that Seoul Bank, one of Korea's largest banks which had been determined as insolvent and taken into government ownership in December 1997, would be merged with Hana Bank, as the latter had been selected in a competitive bidding process against
Lone Star Funds. The merger was completed in December 2002. As a result, Hana became the third-largest bank in South Korea, behind
Kookmin Bank and
Woori Bank. Following years of efforts, Hana Financial Group merged Hana Bank and
Korea Exchange Bank (KEB) and launched KEB Hana Bank in September 2015. In February 2019, the bank's name was changed back from KEB Hana Bank to Hana Bank. In January 2021, Hana Bank secured approval from Taiwan's financial authorities to open a branch in
Taiwan, making it the first bank from South Korea to set up a foothold on the island. ==See also==