S. Korea to intensify financial market monitoring of any speculative forces

South Korea will step up itsmonitoring of any speculative movement in the financial markets, the finance ministry said Friday, amid worries over the local currency's fast ascent against the greenback."The government will intensify its market monitoring to see if there is any speculative movement in foreign capital flows and transactions in the non-deliverable forward market in relation to recent currency exchange rates," the ministry said in a message sent to reporters.The ministry added that th

May 9, 2014

Seoul stocks end higher on bargain hunting

South Korean stocks bounced back Thursday from eight days of losses as retail and institutional investors hunted for bargains while foreign investors sold shares, analysts said. The South Korean won closed nearly flat against the U.S. dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 0.55 percent, or 10.72 points, to 1,950.60. Trading volume was moderate at 218.94 million shares worth 3.82 trillion won ($3.7 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 402 to 398. The market started hig

May 8, 2014

KB Financial’s outside directors most highly paid in 2013: data

KB Financial Group Inc., South Korea’s No. 2 banking group, paid the largest amount of compensation to its outside directors last year with each receiving an average 115 million won ($112,000), data showed on Thursday.KB Financial’s three outside directors attended a total of 20 board meetings last year, which translates into some 5.7 million won being paid per session, according to the data compiled by the Corporate Governance Service.The banking group paid a total of 923 million won to its out

May 8, 2014

State think tank optimistic over economic growth

The nation’s economy will grow 4.1 percent this year, down from earlier estimations but nevertheless picking up momentum after years of slow growth, according to a state-run financial think tank.The previous figure from the Korea Institute of Finance had been set at 4 percent, which the think tank claimed actually was 4.2 percent when using an updated calculation system. The lowered growth forecast from KIF is still higher than the conservative 4 percent growth projected by the Bank of Korea.The

May 8, 2014

Standard Chartered Bank reprimanded for violating accounting rules

Standard Chartered Bank Korea was reprimanded for violating accounting rules on its trading of derivatives worth 1 trillion won ($977.8 billion), according to the Financial Supervisory Service on Thursday.The watchdog said that SC Bank Korea, a local unit of Britain-based banking giant Standard Chartered PLC, conducted transactions with the Seoul branches of six foreign banks on 15 occasions since March 2010. The amount reached a combined $1.79 billion worth of currency swaps and 190 billion won

May 8, 2014

Korea's FX reserves hit fresh record high in April

South Korea's foreign exchange reserves set a record high in April on the rise in the value of non-dollar assets and investment profit, the central bank said Thursday.The country's foreign reserves totaled a record US$355.85 billion as of end-April, up $1.5 billion from the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).It rose for the 10th straight month in April after declining the most in 13 months in June last year.Foreign reserves consist of securities and deposits denominated in over

May 8, 2014

IBK punished for illegal transactions via Iranian account

A local lender was reprimanded for illegal money transactions involving an account held by the Iranian central bank, officials at the South Korean financial watchdog said Wednesday. An inspection on the state-run Industrial Bank of Korea by the Financial Supervisory Service in September discovered major discrepancies in the senders and receivers of remittances for trade that were not properly reported to local authorities, according to the officials.A South Korean trading company had imported $9

May 7, 2014

Asia agrees to enhance currency swap

ASTANA ― Top financial officials from East Asia agreed last week to further strengthen a multilateral currency swap scheme in an effort to boost the region’s “financial safety net.”Finance ministers and central bank governors from the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations as well as South Korea, Japan and China will continue to develop and expand the so-called Chiang Mai Initiative Multilateralization.“We reaffirm our commitment to further strengthen the CMIM as part of the regional f

May 6, 2014

Won gains most against dollar among major currencies

The South Korean won has recently advanced the most against the U.S. dollar among major currencies thanks to its continued current account surplus, market watchers said Tuesday. In April alone, the local currency strengthened 3.05 percent against the greenback, the biggest appreciation among the world’s 40 major currencies, according to the watchers. On Friday, the South Korean currency finished at 1,030.33 won to the dollar, the highest level in nearly six years.The won’s recent appreciation ag

May 6, 2014

BOK likely to freeze key rate in May: experts

South Korea’s central bank is expected to freeze the key interest rate for the 12th consecutive month for May amid no clear signs that the economy is recovering, experts said Tuesday.The Bank of Korea has maintained its benchmark seven-day repo rate at 2.5 percent since May last year when it cut the rate by 0.25 percentage point.Experts expect the BOK will keep its stance as there are not many major factors that require a change in monetary policy. More time is also required to gauge the effects

May 6, 2014

Whiskey sales continue to drop amid economic slump

Sales of whiskey products in South Korea fell in the first quarter of 2014 from a year earlier, data showed Tuesday, apparently as demand for pricey liquor decreased amid a prolonged economic slump.Whiskey sales reached 431,455 boxes in the January-March period, down 4.3 percent from the 450,934 boxes tallied a year ago, industry data showed. A box contains 18 0.5-liter bottles.Diageo Korea, the South Korean unit of the British liquor company, sold 174,319 boxes during the period, down 3.1 perce

May 6, 2014

Korean banks’ overseas earnings sink 28.8% in 2013

South Korean banks saw their combined net profit from overseas operations shrink 28.8 percent last year from a year earlier due to a drop in interest income amid a global low rates trend, the financial watchdog said Tuesday.Earnings by 152 overseas units and offices of 11 local lenders stood at $450 million in 2013, compared with $640 million in the previous year, according to the Financial Supervisory Service.The FSS said the weaker bottom line is a result of contracted interest income when int

May 6, 2014

Amazon introduces Twitter service

Amazon wants to make shopping online as easy as a tweet. The online retailer is introducing a service that lets Twitter users add Amazon.com products to their carts without leaving the social media site. The service comes as Amazon seeks to make social media a bigger source for sales. Twitter also has been seeking new revenue streams beyond advertising services like promoted tweets.Under the program, users must link their Amazon.com account with their Twitter account. Then they need to add the h

May 6, 2014

Second GM engineering exec retires after recall

Another high-ranking General Motors engineer is leaving the company in the wake of its delayed recall of small cars with faulty ignition switches.Jim Federico, who most recently headed safety, vehicle performance and testing labs, is retiring after almost 36 years with the company. GM said he’s leaving on his own to work outside the auto industry.Federico was GM’s highest-ranking executive with safety in his title in February, when the company began recalling 2.6 million older-model small cars t

May 6, 2014