Company: SHG
Filing Date: 2025-04-23
Form Type: 20-F
Source: 0001193125-25-089950
Chunk: 27

Company: SHINHAN FINANCIAL GROUP CO LTD
Filing Date: 2025-04-23
Form: 20-F
Chunk 27
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7 to US$1.00.

We cannot assure you when and to what extent the Bank of Korea will in the future adjust the base interest rate, to which the market interest rate correlates. A decision to adjust the base interest rate is subject to many policy considerations as well as market factors, including the general economic cycle, inflationary levels, interest rates in other economies and foreign currency exchange rates, among others. In general, a decrease in interest rates adversely affects our interest income due to the different maturity structure for our assets and liabilities as discussed above. In contrast, if there were to be a significant or sustained increase in interest rates, all else being equal, such movement would lead to a decline in the value of traded debt securities and could also raise our funding costs, while reducing loan demand, especially among retail customers. Rising interest rates may therefore require us to re-balance our assets and liabilities in order to minimize the risk of potential mismatches in our asset liability management and to maintain our profitability. In addition, rising interest rates may adversely affect the Korean economy and the financial condition of our corporate and retail borrowers, including holders of our credit cards, which in turn may lead to deterioration of asset quality for our credit portfolio. Since most of our retail and corporate loans bear interest at rates that adjust periodically based on prevailing market rates, a sustained increase in interest rates will increase the funding costs of our borrowers and may adversely affect their ability to make payments on their outstanding loans. See “Item 5.A. Operating Results — Interest Rates.”

We may incur losses associated with our counterparty exposures.

We face the risk that counterparties will be unable to honor contractual obligations to us or our subsidiaries. These parties may default on their obligations to us or our subsidiaries due to bankruptcy, lack of liquidity, operational failure or other reasons. This risk may arise, for example, from entering into swaps or other derivative contracts under which counterparties have obligations to make payments to us or our subsidiaries or in executing currency or other trades that fail to settle at the required time due to non-delivery by the counterparty or systems failure by clearing agents, exchanges, clearing houses or other financial intermediaries. Any realization of counterparty risk may adversely affect our business, operations and financial condition.

Adverse developments affecting the financial services industry, such as actual events or concerns involving liquidity, could adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition.

In early 2023, financial troubles at several banks in the United States and Europe caused uncertainty and fear of instability in the global financial system generally,