Seoul shares close flat on rising won

South Korean stocks closed almost flat Monday as investors showed concern over the won’s rise against the greenback that could inflict foreign-exchange losses on exporters, analysts said. The local currency closed higher against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index edged up 1.7 points, or 0.08 percent, to 2,015.14. Trading volume was low at 257.7 million shares worth 4.16 trillion won ($4.06 billion), with losers outpacing gainers 503 to 297.“Seoul shares closed lower

May 19, 2014

Korean life insurers suffer 20% drop in new contracts

The number of new contracts dropped an average 20 percent in April from the previous month for South Korea’s 24 life insurance companies, industry records showed Monday, a sign that contraction in domestic consumption from a ferry disaster may be even more severe than feared.Hana HSBC Life Insurance Co. logged 472 million won ($460,000) in first-month premium in April, sharply down 75.9 percent from 1.95 billion won tallied in March.Woori Aviva Life Insurance Co.’s first-month premium plunged 48

May 19, 2014

Seoul shares expected to continue upward trend

After failing to show a significantly improved performance over the past five months, Seoul stocks were expected to continue their climb, at least for the next week, on foreign buying. Analysts, however, cautioned that some of the gains may be dwarfed by profit-taking. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index finished at 2,013.44 points on Friday, up 2.9 percent from a week earlier.The main index, buoyed by foreign buying, continued to rise throughout the week to reach its highest level o

May 18, 2014

Investors take more loans to buy stocks: data

South Korean investors are borrowing more money to buy stocks as the local stock market is nearing an all-time high for the year, data showed Sunday.The so-called margin debt, or the amount of money borrowed to buy stocks, reached 4.94 trillion won ($4.82 billion) as of Wednesday, the highest since June 7, 2013, when the comparable figure was 4.99 trillion won, according to the data compiled by the Korea Financial Investment Association.The margin debt for the main bourse rose to 2.57 trillion w

May 18, 2014

Foreign banks pay big dividends, consulting fees to parent firms

Foreign banks operating in South Korea have transferred a large sum of dividends and consulting fees to their parent firms, industry data showed Sunday, triggering a controversy over a massive capital outflow and the local units’ financial soundness.According to the data, two foreign banks ― Citibank Korea and Standard Chartered Bank Korea ― have paid a total of 3.25 trillion won ($3.18 billion) in dividends and consulting fees to their parent firms over the past 10 years, which is equivalent to

May 18, 2014

Foreign banks pay big dividends, consulting fees to parent firms

Foreign banks operating in South Korea have transferred a large sum of dividends and consulting fees to their parents firms, industry data showed Sunday, triggering a controversy over a massive capital outflow and the local units' financial soundness.According to the data, two foreign banks -- Citibank Korea Inc. and Standard Chartered Bank Korea -- have paid a total of 3.25 trillion won ($3.18 billion) in dividends and consulting fees to their parent firms over the past 10 years, which is equiv

May 18, 2014

Central bank keeps eye on foreign exchange market

South Korea’s top central banker said Friday that the Bank of Korea is closely watching the foreign exchange market amid growing currency volatility.In a meeting with commercial bank heads, Gov. Lee Ju-yeol said the central bank was keeping tabs on the market for any herd behavior.Lee’s remark is the latest in a series of comments by South Korean financial officials who voiced firm will to act against speculative forces and sharp volatility in the foreign exchange market.Earlier this week, Vice

May 16, 2014

17 financial firms get poor consumer protection grades

Regulators have decided to publicly shame financial firms with the lowest score in the consumer protection segment.Seventeen firms given the lowest grade of “class 5” by the Financial Supervisory Service have been ordered to publicize the shameful record at entrances of their branches and online homepages in “red letters” for three months.The 17 firms which drew frequent petitions last year included three first-tier banks and two credit card issuers: KB Kookmin Bank, NH NongHyup Bank, Standard C

May 15, 2014

Korea’s housing transactions jump 17 percent in April

Home sales continued to grow significantly in April, reflecting recovery signs in the country’s real estate market, the government said Thursday.The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said the number of home transactions surged 16.6 percent from the same month last year to 92,691 in April. This follows a 34.2 percent on-year spike in the previous month and marks the fourth consecutive month that the country’s home sales posted an on-year gain.The growth in April was most visible in t

May 15, 2014

Regulator to complete KDB merger by end of 2014

Korea’s financial regulator said Thursday it will complete the re-merger of the state-run Korea Development Bank with a policy lender by the end of this year, pushing ahead with the plan that overturns a decision by the previous administration.The regulator also said it will establish a maritime financing guarantee agency within this year.Last year, the newly inaugurated Park Geun-hye government unveiled a blueprint for reuniting KDB with the Korea Finance Corp., which was spun off in 2009 as pa

May 15, 2014

Seoul shares finish almost flat after hitting over 5-month high

South Korean shares remained almost unchanged Thursday after a more than 1-percent rise a day earlier as investors took a breather, analysts said. The local currency rose against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index fell 0.63 point, or 0.03 percent, to 2,010.20. The index reached as high as 2,015.37 at one point but pared its gains on profit-taking. On Wednesday, the index hit an over 5-month high. Trading volume was moderate at 253 million shares worth 3.3 trillion wo

May 15, 2014

Cheap dollar boon for overseas remitters

The falling value of the U.S. dollar may be a nuisance for Korean manufacturers and financial authorities, who want the Korean won to remain weak to maintain an edge in exports.But it is considered a golden opportunity to dollar buyers such as investors eyeing the U.S. or parents whose children are studying there amid an outlook that the world’s largest economy will recover in the second half of this year.The number of customers seeking to buy dollars at major private banking centers in Seoul ha

May 15, 2014

Financial institutions penalized with shame stickers for poor

The South Korean financial watchdog on Thursday took "name and shame" measures on local banks and financial institutions rated as having poor customer service, forcing them to display hard-to-miss posters at their entrances.The Financial Supervisory Service last month announced the results of a customer complaint report on 85 local financial institutions, rating the quality of their customer service in five levels, ranging from excellent to poor.Seventeen of the institutions, including banks, sa

May 15, 2014