The local financial sector plans to tighten its belt once again to prepare for a lackluster economy amid sluggish business conditions in the global markets.

Costs will be kept to a minimum and efficiency maximized, while at the same time, financial companies will focus on increasing their overseas reach to develop new sources of profit, industry sources said on Tuesday.

This won’t be the first time the sector has tried to streamline its operations, but sources said the situation could be a blessing in disguise as companies will have to revamp their operations to diversify their income sources.

Nonghyup Bank and Woori Bank have already begun to trim down their workforces to raise efficiency. At Nonghyup, bureaus are being pared ― down to 35 from the original 41 ― and the number of vice presidents posts cut to seven from nine. Further, 10 percent of the headquarters’ workforce will be dispatched to the branch offices.

Woori Bank, in a similar attempt to streamline operations, reduced vice president posts to a dozen from 15.

“There could be further restructuring, such as a cut in paychecks or early retirement packages,” said Lee Pal-seung, chairman of Woori Finance Holdings.

Shinhan Bank has organized a taskforce to maximize its efficiency, while Hana Financial Group is likely to cut down executives by up to 20 percent this year in its annual personnel reshuffling.

New products juxtaposed with existing services, such as between real estate and asset management, is being considered by some of the banks.

Companies also are reaching out to overseas consumers.

Woori Bank is pursuing acquisitions in the U.S. and East Asia, while Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance said it plans to sell car insurance products in China as the country has recently opened the market.

KB Financial, which has been unsuccessful in acquiring ING Life, meanwhile, will most likely seek M&As anew next year.

By Kim Ji-hyun (jemmie@heraldcorp.com)