Foreign currency deposits rebound in October

Foreign currency-denominated deposits at banks in South Korea recovered in October after falling the most in over four years a month earlier, central bank data showed Friday.Foreign currency deposits held by residents reached $66.4 billion as of the end of October, up $2.7 billion from the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea.Residents include local citizens, foreign companies and foreigners staying here for more than six months. The data excludes inter-bank foreign currency deposits.I

Nov. 7, 2014

Won likely to drop further in 2015: report

The South Korean currency will continue to slide next year and fall to 1,140 won against the U.S. dollar amid the Japanese yen weakening from its stimulus package, a report said Friday.“We are rolling forward our U.S. dollar-Korean won forecasts to 1,100 won, 1,130 won, 1,140 won for 3-, 6- and 12-month horizons, from 1,060 won, 1,080 won and 1,100 won previously,” said the Goldman Sachs report. “We retain our long-term forecasts for end-2016 and end-2017 at 1,200 won.”It said that the depreciat

Nov. 7, 2014

South Korean financial groups realign, but find themselves at turning point

Some of South Korea's big-name financial groups will have disappeared by the end of this year through breakups and mergers, but behind such moves ostensibly aimed at improving efficiency, industry watchers say the very system of operating financial groups needs to be rethought.  Former No. 1 Woori Finance Holdings Co. was absorbed into Woori Bank on Nov. 1, and KDB Financial Group Inc. will be merged with Korea Development Bank (KDB) on Jan. 1. The breakup of the two state-owned banking groups i

Nov. 7, 2014

Foreign banks’ profit drops amid lower interest rates

Local branches of foreign banks operating in South Korea saw their net profit decline in recent years, bogged down by a low interest rate trend and tighter financial regulations, data showed Thursday.After peaking at 2.4 trillion won ($2.2 billion) in 2009, the combined net profit of foreign branches has been on a downward path. It declined from 1.5 trillion won in 2010 to 1.3 trillion won in 2011, 1 trillion won in 2012 and 900 trillion won in 2013, according to the data gathered from financial

Nov. 6, 2014

NTS to ease tax burden for foreign investors

The National Tax Service on Thursday outlined new guidelines for easing the tax and audit burdens for foreign corporations.The following is a summary of the guidelines provided by the tax agency. Simplified Advance Pricing Arrangement System This system is expected to ease foreign companies’ burden of being audited. In 2015, the NTS will commence operation of its Simplified APA System as a way to reduce the burden of undergoing tax audits for small and medium-sized enterprises. An APA is an arra

Nov. 6, 2014

Foreign banks' profit drops amid lower interest rates

Local branches of foreign banks operating in South Korea saw their net profit decline in recent years, bogged down by a low interest rate trend and tighter financial regulations, data showed Thursday.   After peaking at 2.4 trillion won (US$2.2 billion) in 2009, the combined net profit of foreign branches has been on a downward path. It declined from 1.5 trillion won in 2010 to 1.3 trillion won in 2011, 1 trillion won in 2012 and 900 trillion won in 2013, according to the data gathered from fina

Nov. 6, 2014

KRX, S&P Dow Jones team up for marketing of indices

The Korea Exchange, South Korea’s bourse operator, said Tuesday that it had signed an agreement with S&P Dow Jones Indices to collaborate on globally marketing the KRX indices and on new index development.With the agreement, the KRX will be able to use S&P Dow Jones Indices’ experience in global sales and marketing, enabling promotion of the KRX indices such as the KOSPI 200 to overseas investors. The two parties also agreed to develop new indices to meet growing demand for foreign indirect inve

Nov. 4, 2014

BOK monitoring BOJ's surprise stimulus

South Korea's central bank said Monday it is closely monitoring the impact of Japan's further monetary easing and vowed to block one-sided market expectation.   On Friday, the Bank of Japan (BOJ) stunned the market by announcing it will ramp up its already sizable stimulus, sending the yen sharply lower against the U.S. dollar and also causing a sharp slide in the Korean won against the greenback.    Japan's central bank said it will jack up its asset purchases by up to 20 trillion yen to some 8

Nov. 3, 2014

Households beef up nonbank assets

Pension funds and insurances in the financial assets of households broke the 30-percent mark for the first time as households diversified their portfolio amid low rates and rapid aging, data showed Monday.Pension and insurance assets for households totaled 814 trillion won ($759 billion) last year, accounting for 30.9 percent of their overall financial assets, according to the data by the central bank. The portion has been climbing since reaching 21.7 percent in 2003.The latest data compiled in

Nov. 3, 2014

Seoul shares slump as weak yen spurs fears

South Korean stocks skidded lower Monday as a weakening yen stoked concerns about the profitability of local manufacturers, analysts said. The local currency weakened against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index tumbled 11.46 points, or 0.58 percent, to 1,952.97, marking the biggest daily percentage drop since Oct. 21. Trading volume was moderate at 340.1 million shares worth 4.48 trillion won ($4.18 billion), with decliners leading gainers, 491 to 328.“Shares that are

Nov. 3, 2014

12 banks chosen to spearhead creation of won-yuan market

Twelve banks, including five foreign bank branches, have been selected to lead the efforts to nurture the won-yuan direct transaction market in South Korea, the government said Monday, in a follow-up action to its recent efforts to encourage local businesses to use the Chinese currency for trade. On Friday, the government said that it aims to encourage local businesses to use the yuan as a medium of currency exchange for up to 20 percent of commercial transactions with Chinese counterparts, whic

Nov. 3, 2014

Tax agency to enhance legal team

The National Tax Service is planning to strengthen its legal team by adding a group of attorneys to assist in corporate litigation, the nation’s tax office said Monday. The overhaul comes after the tax agency lost some major high-profile lawsuits, leading it to incur losses of up to 717.9 billion won ($667.3 million) last year.The renewed legal team will focus on fighting legal battles against major law firms, while its original tax collection duties will be outsourced to another division, the t

Nov. 3, 2014

U.S. investors scoop up more than W35tr of Korean stocks

U.S.-based investors had bought the largest amount of South Korean stocks over the past six years on the back of the Federal Reserve’s three rounds of so-called quantitative easing that ended last month, data showed on Monday.According to the data compiled by the Financial Supervisory Service and the bourse operator, the Korea Exchange, U.S. investors had bought a net 35.83 trillion won ($33.28 billion) between March 2009 and September this year, taking up half of 69.73 trillion won worth of tot

Nov. 3, 2014

Japanese banks take up over half of private lending in S. Korea

Japanese lenders have taken up more than half of the market in South Korea for small, private lending, even though they charge significantly higher interest rates than local competitors, market watchers said Sunday.As of the end of last year, the number of Japanese lenders in the country's secondary financial market was 21.However, combined lending by the Japanese-owned financial institutes came to about 4.97 trillion won (US$4.66 billion), or 56.2 percent of the total in the small, private lend

Nov. 2, 2014

Insurers’ net income jumps 25.7% this year

South Korean insurance companies saw their net income jump 25.7 percent in the first nine months of the year from a year earlier on the back of increased invest­ment-related earnings, the financial watchdog said Friday.The combined net income of local life and nonlife insurers reached 5.1 trillion won ($4.84 billion) in the January-September period, compared with 4.6 trillion won the previous year, according to the Financial Supervisory Service.Life insurers posted a 24.1 percent rise in net pro

Oct. 31, 2014