Daedong Credit Bank

The Daedong Credit Bank is a joint venture retail bank based in Pyongyang. It was established in 1995 as "Peregrine Daesong Development Bank".

The Bank underwent a change of name and foreign ownership in 2000. It proudly celebrated its tenth anniversary in 2005.

Since 2000 Daedong Credit Bank has been 70% owned and managed by a company run by professional fund managers. The remaining 30% is held by Korea Daesong Bank.

The Daedong Credit Bank is the first, by ten years, foreign majority held bank in the DPRK.

The bank's principal function is to offer normal "high street" banking facilities in hard currency to: foreign companies, joint ventures, international relief agencies and individuals doing business in the DPRK. The permitted activities of the bank are:

- Foreign currency deposits
- Foreign currency lending
- Settlement of export/import proceeds
- Guarantees
- Trusts
- Foreign exchange
- Credit analysis and consulting
- Foreign currency remittance
- Trading of foreign marketable securities
- Credit cards
- All other services customarily provided by banks operating in international finance centres

The General Manager and CEO of Daedong Credit Bank is Nigel Cowie, a director of Phoenix Commercial Ventures Ltd. Nigel Cowie is one of only a small handful of Western businessmen working in the DPRK with full residence status. The bank is the only bank in the DPRK with an expatriate manager.

The prime role of the bank is to promote commercial activity by foreign investors in the DPRK; as such the bank's main customers consist mainly of foreign companies, including those with representative offices in the DPRK, and joint ventures. Daedong Credit Bank is proud to count Phoenix Commercial Ventures Ltd, Hana Electronics and Sinji Software amongst its customers.

The key strengths of the bank can be summarised as follows:

• The Daedong Credit Bank has an extremely good reputation in the DPRK, and is the largest of the three foreign invested joint venture banks. It is also the most liquid of any of the banks in the DPRK

• The Daedong Credit Bank is well known for providing the fastest remittance service of any of the banks. The Daedong Credit Bank has Phoenix Commercial Ventures Ltd as one of its customers
  
  
• The Daedong Credit Bank has pioneered the successful introduction of electronic banking, and is a member and user of SWIFT
  
  
• The bank has a proven track record of service over its ten years of operation, and complies with full international audit standards
  
  
• The local staff are English speaking, and fully trained in banking operations
  
  
• The local staff have an invaluable knowledge, and hands on experience, of local joint venture procedures, regulations and local ministries
  
  
• The bank is profitable and solvent