Japanese funds flooding into S. Korean stock market

Japanese investors have poured their money into South Korean stocks since April partly fueled by Japan's accommodative monetary policy, data showed Thursday. According to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), Japan-based investors sold more Korean stocks than they bought in the January-March period, but they purchased a net 1.57 trillion won (US$1.52 billion) worth of them from April through Thursday. The influx of Japanese funds into the local equity market in the May-August period averaged

Sept. 11, 2014

Brokerages cut 10% of jobs amid slump

South Korean securities companies have slashed more than 10 percent of their payrolls and shut down over 200 offices at home and abroad over the past year amid a prolonged economic slump, data showed Wednesday.As of end-June, the nation’s top 28 brokerage houses by revenue had a combined 33,091 workers, down 10.3 percent from a year earlier, according to the data by Chaebul.com, which tracks the country’s family-run conglomerates, known as chaebol.The securities firms had a total of 1,344 domest

Sept. 10, 2014

Korea forecast to freeze interest rate in Sept.: survey

South Korea's central bank is expected to freeze the key interest rate in September as it monitors the impact of last month's rate cut and the government's stimulus measures, a survey showed Tuesday.The Bank of Korea lowered the base interest rate by a quarter percentage point to 2.25 percent last month in a widely-expected move to join the government's efforts to spur the economy, but a clear majority of market watchers didn't expect a rate cut for a second month in a row. According to the surv

Sept. 9, 2014

Stock markets rally on gov't stimulus, foreign investors: data

Some 510 stocks on South Korea's main bourse have hit 52-week highs so far this year, more than half of them in the second half, exchange data showed Tuesday.The tech-heavy secondary bourse also rallied, pushed by foreign investors, according to the data.Domestic consumption, services and real estate-related shares led the rise on the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index in the period between Jan. 3 and Sept. 3 this year, with 510 stocks reaching their highest in 52 weeks, the data showed

Sept. 9, 2014

Inflow of Chinese money increases 44 times in 5 years

Chinese have been bringing a large amount of money into South Korea in search of high returns, increasing their investment in the Korean equity market by 44 times in the last five years, data showed Tuesday. The value of local securities and bond accounts held by Chinese snowballed to 20.8 trillion won ($20.2 billion) as of end-2013, compared to 471.1 billion at end-2008, according to the data compiled by the Financial Supervisory Service. Chinese have additionally brought in 2.5 trillion won du

Sept. 9, 2014

NH Financial to sell Woori Aviva to DGB Financial

NH Financial Group, the country’s fourth-largest banking group by assets, on Friday signed a memorandum of understanding with DGB Financial Group to sell its 98.90 percent stake in its insurance unit Woori Aviva Life Insurance, company officials said.DGB Financial, led by local Daegu Bank, will study the books of Woori Aviva for six weeks starting as early as mid-September, and finalize the deal by January next year, according to NH officials.“It was a win-win strategy for all three firms. While

Sept. 5, 2014

NongHyup to sell Woori Aviva to DGB Financial Group

NongHyup Financial Group Inc., South Korea's fourth-largest banking group by assets, plans to sell its 98.89 percent stake in its insurance unit, Woori Aviva Life Insurance Co., to DGB Financial Group, a local banking group, industry sources said Thursday.NongHyup Financial Group will sign a preliminary deal to sell its stake in the insurance company to DGB Financial Group, led by the Daegu Bank Ltd., which is based in Daegu, about 300 kilometers south of Seoul, shortly after its board meeting t

Sept. 4, 2014

Card firms’ net profit rises 13.5% in H1

Earnings by South Korean credit card companies rose 13.5 percent in the first half of 2014 from a year earlier due to gains from asset sales, the financial watchdog said Thursday.The combined net income of eight stand-alone card firms stood at 1.07 trillion won ($1.05 billion) in the January-June period, compared with 946.3 billion won the previous year, according to the Financial Supervisory Service. The jump in the net income came as their gains in stock sales offset a drop in interest income

Sept. 4, 2014

Minister blames financial sector for risk-averse culture

Finance Minister Choi Kyung-hwan on Thursday criticized the financial sector for its excessive risk-averse culture, saying that such self-protection may be dragging down the overall financial community.“It is quite worrisome that the whole financial industry is shrinking with signs of money flows being almost clogged,” Choi told financial industry leaders in Seoul. “The reason for the contraction is that it is focused too much on protecting itself from risks and engaging in passive business tact

Sept. 4, 2014

Kookmin Bank president offers to resign after watchdog toughens punishment

The president of Kookmin Bank stepped down on Thursday soon after the financial watchdog imposed heavier punishment against him and the chairman of the bank's parent, KB Financial Group, for management failures over an expensive computer system change."I've done what I have to do as a bank president. I believe that the watchdog has made the right decision on my conduct," said Lee Kun-ho, the bank's president.Just before his resignation, Financial Supervisory Service Gov. Choi Soo-hyun overturned

Sept. 4, 2014

Finance union goes on first strike in 14 years

South Korean financial workers staged their first strike in 14 years on Wednesday to protest the government’s pressure on the local finance sector to cut welfare and restructure.Clad in raincoats to weather the occasional drizzle, tens of thousands of workers at banks, bank-owned card companies and public companies sat down at Mokdong Sports Complex in western Seoul for the one-day strike.“We have demanded that the government stop its pressure on financial workers,” said Kim Moon-ho, who heads t

Sept. 3, 2014

Won trades at 6-year high against yen

The South Korean currency traded near a six-year high against the Japanese yen on Wednesday, raising worries that it could hurt the competitiveness of domestic firms, particularly in the steel, tech and auto sectors.The local currency rose to the highest it‘s been against the yen on Tuesday since 964.23 won on Aug. 25, 2008. The won pared some of the earlier gains to fall to 971.70 won per 100 yen as of 3:08 p.m., down 2.84 won from Tuesday’s close, on concerns about the currency authorities’ in

Sept. 3, 2014

State auditor launches inspection on financial regulator for allowing gathering of medical data

South Korea's state audit agency has launched an inspection on the financial regulator for its decision giving local life insurers access to personal health records for use as credit information, financial sources said Wednesday.According to the sources, a team of inspectors from the Board of Audit and Inspection has been at the Financial Services Commission (FSC) since Monday for a probe expected to continue up to 15 days.The BAI sees the FSC's decision as somewhat problematic, the sources said

Sept. 3, 2014

Local brokers cut estimate for Samsung's Q3 profit

Local brokerage houses have sharply revised down their estimate for the third-quarter operating income of Samsung Electronics Co., citing weak performance in the smartphone sector, an online financial information provider said Wednesday. South Korea's 27 brokerage houses estimated Samsung's operating profit for the July-September period at 6.98 trillion won ($6.85 billion), hovering far below the 8.6 trillion won outlook made in July, the data compiled by FnGuide showed. The figure is also 31.2

Sept. 3, 2014