Foreign net buying of Korean stocks continues in Sept.

Foreign investors continued their net buying of South Korean stocks for the fourth straight month in September, raising their share ownership to a near record high, data showed Monday.Offshore investors bought a net 1.63 trillion won ($1.46 billion) worth of listed South Korean shares last month, marking the fourth consecutive month of net purchases, according to the data by the Financial Supervisory Service.Their cumulative net purchases reached 11.1 trillion won in the first nine months of the

Oct. 10, 2016

Brokerages lift Samsung's 2016 operating profit forecast

Some brokerage firms have lifted their forecasts of Samsung Electronics Co.'s operating profit for this year after the company announced a better-than-expected earnings guidance for the third quarter, according to the brokerages on Sunday. Despite a damaging recall of the Galaxy Note 7 smartphone, Samsung said Friday that it is estimated to report a 5.5 percent rise in its third-quarter operating profit that would be at 7.8 trillion won ($6.9 billion). Samsung Securities raised its forecast for

Oct. 9, 2016

Only 2% of inheritors pay inheritance taxes: lawmaker

Only two percent of those who inherited wealth from their parents paid inheritance taxes in recent years, an opposition party lawmaker said Friday.Rep. Park Kwang-on of the main opposition Minjoo Party said more than 1.45 million people inherited a combined 151 trillion won ($135 billion) from their parents between 2011 and 2015.Still, only 32,330 paid inheritance taxes, accounting for 2.2 percent of the total. It means more than 1.42 million people did not pay a dime.Meanwhile, more than 1.17 m

Oct. 7, 2016

Gov't to ease restrictions on banks' capital

South Korea will relax regulations on local banks' capital to help them improve profitability and raise global competitiveness, the nation's top financial regulator said Friday.Yim Jong-yong, chairman of the Financial Services Commission, admitted that banks here are subject to some "excessive" rules including those on loan loss reserves."(The government) will lay the groundwork for domestic banks to raise their investment appeal and compete in the global market by eliminating factors causing an

Oct. 7, 2016

Banks' loan delinquency rate for conglomerates at record high in Aug.

The delinquency rate of South Korean banks' won-denominated loans to large firms hit an all-time high in August, as the nation's corporate restructuring drive gained pace, government data showed Friday.The rate stood at 2.59 percent during the month, up 0.28 percentage point from a month earlier and 1.55 percentage points on-year, respectively, according to the Financial Supervisory Service.It marks the highest since the related data were first complied in 2008.The rise is mainly attributable to

Oct. 7, 2016

Banks to be tough on lending screening: BOK poll

South Korean lenders are expected to be more picky in extending loans in the fourth quarter of 2016 amid concerns about the growing credit risks of firms and households, the central bank said Thursday citing a related survey.The lending attitude index for banks stood at -18 for the September-December period, the same for the previous quarter, according to the Bank of Korea.It conducted the poll of 15 major banks and 184 non-bank lenders here from Aug. 29 till Sept. 9. The index ranges between -1

Oct. 6, 2016

Lotte founder's third wife, youngest daughter own 6.7% stake in Lotte Holdings

Lotte founder's third wife and her daughter together hold a combined 6.8 percent stake in Lotte Holdings, the retail giant's de-facto holding firm based in Tokyo, prosecution sources familiar with the matter said Thursday. The stake in Lotte Holdings owned by Seo Mi-kyung, 57, and her 33-year-old daughter is the largest share among the founding family members of South Korea's largest retail conglomerate. The latest revelation related to Lotte founder Shin Kyuk-ho's secretive common-law wife came

Oct. 6, 2016

Chinese firms rush to Korean bourse

Chinese companies are actively seeking to be listed on the South Korean stock market this year thanks to cheaper costs and a relatively short period of time to complete listings, industry sources said Thursday.Three Chinese firms -- farm equipment parts maker Golden Century, Organic Tea Cosmetics Holdings Co. and plastics maker GRT -- are preparing to be listed on South Korea's secondary KOSDAQ market by year-end. The same number of Chinese companies has already been listed on the minor bourse s

Oct. 6, 2016

KRX's new head vows every effort for holding firm

The new head of South Korea's sole bourse operator on Wednesday pledged all-out efforts to transform it into a holding company with a few subsidiaries in a bid to survive the rapidly changing market environment."Given internal and external necessities, a shift to a holding firm is a task we have to achieve at all costs," Korea Exchange CEO Jeong Chan-woo said, starting his three-year tenure.The KRX has sought to go public and become a holding firm as part of efforts to strengthen governance and

Oct. 5, 2016

Gov't reaffirms unyielding pay reform drive for bank workers

South Korea's top financial regulator on Wednesday emphasized the government's unswerving commitment to expand performance-linked pay for local bank workers."It's an indispensable financial reform task," Yim Jong-yong, chairman of the Financial Services Commission said at a government-civilian meeting on improving the nation's financial system.The government will push for the spread of a "performance-oriented culture" on the basis of constant principles, he added.Yim's comments came as bank work

Oct. 5, 2016

Korean banks' net abroad drops 17% on more loan loss reserves

South Korean banks' net income from their branches abroad fell more than 17 percent in the first half of this year on increased provisions for bad loans, government data showed Wednesday.Local banks had a total of 173 branches in 39 foreign countries as of end-June, according to the Financial Supervisory Service. Most of the overseas operations were concentrated in Asia, accounting for 66.5 percent of the total, followed by 12.7 percent in Europe and North America, respectively.Their combined as

Oct. 5, 2016

'One-stop' reporting system introduced for lost credit cards

South Korea said Tuesday it will introduce a new system to enable reporting multiple credit cards lost or stolen with just a single phone call.So far, card holders have been required to report separately to each card issuer.South Korean adults have an average of 3.4 credit cards, according to government data.Under the measure to take effect on Wednesday, they can make a single phone call to any of the eight credit card firms and 11 banks joining the initiative to report credit cards lost or stol

Oct. 4, 2016