South Korean stocks fell 0.67 percent Friday after neither U.S. nor European central banks unveiled detailed stimulus programs to bolster growth, analysts said. The local currency fell against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index gave up 12.31 points to 1,835.64, snapping a two-day gaining streak.Trading volume was light at 355 million shares worth 3.39 trillion won ($2.88 billion), with losers outpacing gainers 478 to 330.“Heads of the U.S. Federal Reserve and the Eur

June 8, 2012

  The Bank of Korea held off from altering borrowing costs for a 12th straight month as easing inflation gave policy makers room to wait and see how Europe's debt crisis and China's slowdown affect the economy.    Governor Kim Choong-soo and his board kept the benchmark seven-day repurchase rate unchanged at 3.25 percent as predicted by all 15 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News.    South Korea

June 8, 2012

South Korean stocks jumped 2.56 percent Thursday on predictions that Europe and the United States may make a concerted effort to tackle fiscal woes and implement measures to boost growth, analysts said. The local currency rose against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index soared 46.10 points to 1,847.95, marking the second straight session of gains. Trading volume was light at 377 million shares worth 5.81 trillion won ($4.96 billion), with gainers clearly outpacing los

June 7, 2012

Korea Development Bank started marketing a sale of as much as 50 billion yen ($635 million) of Samurai bonds planned for next week, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter.KDB told investors it plans to price the two-year notes to yield 60 basis points to 75 more than the yen swap rate as soon as June 13, said the person, asking not to be identified because the information is private.The lender is following Export-Import Bank of Korea, in selling yen-denominated debt as the ben

June 6, 2012

People who have held more than 1 billion won ($850,000) in overseas accounts even for a day in the past year are required to report to the nation’s tax agency by the end of this month.Up to 100 million won in rewards will be given to others who report them.The National Tax Service said Wednesday it will receive reports from residents of Korea or domestic legal entities that own a total of more than 1 billion won in listed stocks or accounts in foreign financial institutions.The overseas financia

June 6, 2012

Household loans offered by South Korean depository institutions rose in April, despite ongoing government efforts to curb private debt. the central bank said Wednesday, Household lending by local banks and non-bank institutions totaled 639.58 trillion won ($541.09 billion) as of the end of April, up 2.46 trillion won from the preceding month, according to the Bank of Korea.The monthly total is the second highest after 639.60 trillion won tallied in December 2011. The gains also come after loans

June 6, 2012

KOSDAQ market cap dips below W100tr for first time since SeptemberThe market capitalization of local bourses and the value of daily stock trading plunged recently on growing investor angst as the European debt crisis continues to drag down the global economy. Rising concerns of a Greek exit from the eurozone and a bank run in Spain, along with slowing growth in the world’s two largest economies ― the U.S. and China ― have weakened investor sentiment.The aggregate market value of the benchmark KO

June 6, 2012

More than half of financial company boards will be made up of outside directors who meet stricter qualifications, according to a new bill. The government reviewed and approved on Tuesday a proposal regarding the governance structure of financial companies at a Cabinet meeting presided over by President Lee Myung-bak. If the bill passes into law, financial companies will have to fill more than 50 percent of their boards with directors that come from outside the company. The role of the board will

June 5, 2012

Richard Hill, chief executive of Standard Chartered Bank Korea, obtained the Korean name “Koo Je-il” last week.Industrial Bank of Korea chief executive Cho Jun-hee suggested the name after Standard Chartered Bank’s former name “Jeil,” which means “first,” during a dinner meeting of the chiefs of 14 banks on May 29.“Koo” is the Korean pronunciation of the Chinese character for “hill.” Cho presented the Korean name to Hill in appreciation of the British CEO’s constant efforts to understand the Kor

June 5, 2012

Credit rating agency says its outlook for Korea’s banking system remains stableThere have been no fundamental changes in Korea’s economic prospects since Moody’s Investors Service raised its outlook for the country in April amid the European debt crisis, a senior vice president for the company in Asia said Tuesday.“Nothing fundamental has changed since we raised the outlook,” Tom Byrne, senior vice president of Moody’s sovereign risk group for Asia, told reporters here.“The drop in demand from E

June 5, 2012

Global funds reduced ownership of South Korean stocks by the most since August last month while boosting holdings of local-currency bonds as Europe’s debt crisis spurred demand for the safest assets.International investors, led by funds in the U.K., Luxembourg and France, reduced ownership of equities by 3.4 trillion won ($2.9 billion), the Financial Supervisory Service said in an e-mailed statement on Monday.Their holdings were 367.8 trillion won at the end of May, accounting for 31.4 percent o

June 4, 2012

Among a total 7.54 million tax payers in South Korea, 8.3 percent earned over 80 million won (about $73,000) per year and most of them work at local conglomerates or foreign companies, according to Payopen (www.payopen.co.kr), an annual salary website. According to the website’s analysis of a report on the 2011 national tax statistics released by the National Tax Service, the average annual income of high-paid workers was 119 million won. Among foreign companies, those in the finance, electrics,

June 4, 2012

South Korea’s foreign exchange reserves shrank in May from a record high reached in the previous month as a weaker euro and a softer British pound reduced the conversion value of non-dollar assets, the central bank said Monday.The country’s foreign reserves reached $310.87 billion at the end of last month, down $5.97 billion from April, according to the Bank of Korea. In April, the country’s foreign reserves reached an all-time-high of $316.84 billion.Asia’s fourth-largest economy first saw its

June 4, 2012