The labor union of Korea Exchange Bank filed an injunction to block financial regulators’ recent approval of Hana Financial Group’s takeover of KEB.“We filed the injunction with the Constitutional Court late Jan. 31,” a KEB union leader said Thursday.He said unionized workers are discussing whether

Feb. 1, 2012

South Korea has taken three state-owned financial groups off the list of public institutions, paving the way for their privatization process, the finance ministry said Tuesday.KDB Financial Group, the Korea Development Bank (KDB) and the Industrial Bank of Korea (IBK) were taken off the list of publ

Jan. 31, 2012

Employee salaries at Korea Exchange Bank, Korea’s fifth-largest lender, were the highest among the country’s six largest banks, industry data showed Tuesday. KEB paid an average of 51.7 million won ($45,858) to its employees during the first three quarters of 2011, the highest among South Korea’s six lenders, according to industry data. Hana Bank, the fourth-largest lender in Asia’s No. 4 economy, had the lowest average salary in the same period with 38 million won. Following a regulatory approv

Jan. 31, 2012

Korea’s tax agency said Tuesday it plans to impose a corporate tax on U.S.-based buyout fund Lone Star Funds’ investment gains from the purchase of a local skyscraper instead of the previously-imposed transfer income tax, which a Seoul court ruled illegal.Nearly 100 billion won ($89 million) in corporate taxes will be levied next month on the fund’s capital gains of nearly 245 billion won, stemming from its purchase and sale of a commercial high-rise in the posh southern part of Seoul. The decis

Jan. 31, 2012

Korea’s industrial output grew at a much slower pace in December in the face of persistent global economic uncertainties, a government report showed Tuesday.According to the report by Statistics Korea, production in the mining and manufacturing industries moved up 2.8 percent last month from a year earlier, slowing from a 5.8 percent gain in November.Industrial production, however, fell 0.9 percent on-month in December, marking the third month in a row that numbers declined.In November, it shran

Jan. 31, 2012

Lenders see combined profit reach 12 trillion won, up 29.2% from a year beforeKorean banks posted a robust combined profit last year on the back of their record-high earnings from service charges.According to the Financial Supervisory Service, banks’ 2011 earnings came to about 12 trillion won ($10.5 billion), up 29.2 percent from 9.3 trillion won a year earlier.Noticeably, their earnings from service fees, including those on transactions via automated teller machines, marked an all-time high of

Jan. 31, 2012

A rate cut expected for weak conglomerate units and public corporationsKorea’s financial regulators plan to hold a public forum to explore the introduction of a stand-alone corporate rating system on Feb. 9, heralding the imminent implementation of a program that alarms Korean conglomerates. The envisioned stand-alone rating system is widely expected to weed out nonviable chaebol affiliates which have inflated their corporate ratings through links with parent firms with better ratings. The gover

Jan. 31, 2012

The International Monetary Fund has revised down its 2012 growth outlook for South Korea sharply based on the latest economic conditions at home and abroad, the Finance Ministry said Monday.Korea’s economy, Asia’s fourth-largest, is forecast to expand 3.5 percent this year, down from a 4.4 percent growth projected last September, according to the ministry. The new forecast is lower than the 3.7 percent expansion predicted by the Seoul government in December.The latest growth outlook is part of a

Jan. 30, 2012

The number of people who moved out of the Seoul metropolitan area exceeded those who moved into the capital for the first time in four decades, a government report said on Monday, indicating a gradual decentralization of population in the country.The population of the Seoul metropolitan saw a net outflow of 8,000 residents, Statistics Korea said, posting the first year of population contraction from change of legal residence since the agency started compiling data in 1970. “We’re seeing a disper

Jan. 30, 2012

Board of Audit and Inspection to examine FSC, FSS until Feb. 24The Board of Audit and Inspection launched an intensive investigation into the nation’s two financial regulators on Monday.The state auditor, which completed its preliminary audit earlier this month, will carry out an intensive audit on the Financial Services Commission and the Financial Supervisory Service between Jan. 30 and Feb. 24.The audit comes after the FSC endorsed Hana Financial Group’s application to take over Korea Exchang

Jan. 30, 2012

Korean stocks closed 1.24 percent lower Monday on slower-than-expected growth in the U.S. and uncertainty about European debt woes, analysts said. The local currency fell against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark KOSPI dropped 24.28 points to finish at 1,940.55, marking the first decline in six sessions. Trading volume was moderate at 406 million shares worth 6.3 trillion won ($5.6 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 531 to 299.“The U.S. economy grew 2.8 percent in the last quarter of 2011.Th

Jan. 30, 2012

Economic growth is likely to be the weakest in the first three months of this year as external uncertainties will peak in the period, Finance Minister Bahk Jae-wan said Monday. “Growth uncertainties are seen to be significant in the first quarter. The risk from the European debt crisis is likely to ease in the second and third quarters,” Bahk told reporters at a news conference.Bahk’s projection comes amid signs of faltering growth. The economy grew 0.4 percent, the least in two years in the Oct

Jan. 30, 2012

Korean stocks are expected to lose momentum next week, weighed down by the pessimistic U.S. economic index and credit downgrades of eurozone countries, analysts said Saturday.The benchmark KOSPI inched up 0.8 percent to close at 1,964.83 on Friday on strong foreign buying buoyed by positive corporate earnings and the U.S. Fed’s low-rate pledge. The key index has spiked nearly 100 points over the previous two weeks.World’s largest memory chip maker Samsung Electronics posted 13.7 trillion won ($1

Jan. 29, 2012