The National Pension Service has selected Woori Bank as the preferred bidder to serve as its foreign-currency custodian bank, carrying out settlement of the fund's foreign-exchange transactions and management of foreign-currency accounts.
The NPS said on Wednesday it decided Woori Bank as the top-ranked preferred bidder after receiving and reviewing proposals on May 7.
The selection of a foreign-currency custodian bank is the first in 5 years since 2021. The NPS plans to sign a final contract in June after an on-site review and technical negotiations.
The contract period is 3 years and can be extended by up to 2 years.
The NPS fund's assets under management stood at 1.61 trillion won as of end-February this year. About 55 percent, or 886 trillion won, was in overseas assets.
Kim Seong-joo (김성주), chairman, said, "As the scale of the fund's overseas investments has grown, stable foreign-exchange transactions are very important." He added, "We will complete the selection of a foreign-currency custodian well to ensure smooth foreign-currency transactions and fund management."
Ji-young Lee
ljy@d-today.co.kr