IBK Investment Securities appointed Vice President Choi Kwang-jin (최광진) as its new chief executive officer and president. It plans to strengthen competitiveness based on support for small and venture businesses and consumer-focused management.

IBK Investment Securities said on Monday it appointed Choi as its new CEO and president after holding an extraordinary shareholders meeting and a board meeting.

Choi, born in 1965, graduated from Busanjin High School and Korea University with a degree in economics. He later earned an MBA from the University of Iowa in the United States.

The company said Choi joined Industrial Bank of Korea in 1992 and held key posts including head of the strategic planning team, head of the Hanoi branch, head of the investment banking department, head of the western regional headquarters and head of the corporate and investment banking group. He later served as chief operating officer at IBK Investment Securities, leading efforts to push synergy projects between the bank and the brokerage and to draw up a strategy to expand its role as a securities firm specialising in small businesses.

In his inaugural address, Choi said, "As the country's only policy-finance-affiliated securities firm and a member of the IBK Financial Group, I will actively contribute to financing for small businesses through productive finance."