Watchdog mulls stricter rules to curb currency margin trading

South Korea’s financial watchdog plans to draw up measures to mend the practice of handling currency margin trading in a bid to prevent retail investors from inflicting heavy losses, officials said Sunday.Margin trading allows investors to place heavy bets on currency volatilities with a relatively small amount of money. Currency margin trading can yield huge profits, but it can also inflict heavy

July 3, 2011

Controversy brews over Lone Star’s receipt of massive dividends

The move by Korea Exchange Bank to offer a record interim dividend to its biggest shareholder Lone Star Funds is sparking concerns about long-term growth for South Korea‘s No. 5 lender, market watchers said Sunday.KEB’s board decided on Friday to pay out a quarterly dividend worth of 1,510 won ($1.42) per share, causing U.S. private equity fund Lone Star to rake in dividends worth 496.9 billion wo

July 3, 2011

Doubts grow over financial supervisory reform

Skepticism is growing over the performance of the Prime Minister’s Office-led task force to overhaul the nation’s financial supervisory structure.Though the task force was set up in the wake of financial regulators’ failure in oversight of savings banks, the 13-member team has not reached a consensus and has delayed unveiling its measures.The team, launched early May, said it would draw out measur

July 3, 2011

Trade deficit with Japan falls in H1

Korea’s trade deficit with Japan fell in the first half, compared with a year earlier mainly because exports by Asia’s fourth-largest economy benefited from Japan’s devastating quake in March, data showed Sunday.Korea’s exports to Japan rose 49.9 percent on-year to $17.7 billion in the January-June period while imports grew 11.3 percent to $32.1 billion, according to data compiled by the Ministry

July 3, 2011

Watchdog to inspect large financial firms every other year

Korea’s financial watchdog said Sunday it plans to inspect large local banks and insurers every other year, a change from the current annual checkups, in a bid to ease unintended burdens on financial firms.Instead, the Financial Supervisory Service is seeking to strengthen the sector-wide monitoring system and focus on issue-based inspections when potential systemic risks crop up.In the wake of th

July 3, 2011

Finance ministers agree ...on policy coordination

Finance ministers of South Korea and Japan agreed to step up policy coordination in pushing for “a strong, sustainable and balanced growth,” both sides said.During their meeting in Tokyo on Friday, South Korea’s Finance Minister Bahk Jae-wan and his Japanese counterpart Yoshihiko Noda shared the view that the economy in East Asia still faces risk factors, despite its steady rebound from the global

July 3, 2011

KB’s ATM network frozen for three hours

Some automated teller machine services of Kookmin Bank, South Korea’s largest lender, were paralyzed for around three hours on Saturday morning, bank officials said, rekindling concerns over banking security in the country. Customers had difficulties depositing and withdrawing money through ATMs across the nation between 7:30 a.m. and 10:20 a.m., according to the officials.Kookmin Bank said its of

July 3, 2011

Seoul bourse expected to gain ground next week

SEOUL, (Yonhap) -- South Korea's stock market is expected to continue its upward movement next week as worries over the Greek debt crisis were eased and investors' outlooks for major economies could improve, analysts said Saturday.The country's key stock index, the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), gained 1.67 percent, or 34.93 points, to close at 2,125.74 on Friday. The bourse got off to

July 3, 2011

KEB to pay out record interim dividends

Korea Exchange Bank (KEB) decided Friday to pay out an interim dividend of 1,510 won ($1.42) per share for the second quarter, a move that will allow its biggest shareholder Lone Star Funds to rake in large profits. This marks the record amount of quarterly dividends that Korea's fifth-largest lender has ever paid out, enabling U.S.buyout fund Lone Star to receive dividends worth 496.8 billion won

July 1, 2011

Watchdog mulling further lowering bank loan-to-deposit ratio to 90%

Korea’s financial watchdog said Thursday it may require local banks to lower their loan-to-deposit ratio to the 90 percent range in a bid to stem excessive growth of household debt.Lowering the loan-to-deposit ratio, a gauge of a bank’s solvency, was one of a set of measures to curb snowballing household debt unveiled on Wednesday. Household debt, which surpassed 800 trillion won ($747.3 billion)

June 30, 2011

Industrial output grows 8.3%

Korea’s industrial output kept growing for the 23rd straight month in May, raising hopes the nation’s economic recovery is gaining momentum, a government report showed Thursday.According to the report by Statistics Korea, production in the mining and manufacturing industries expanded 8.3 percent last month from a year earlier, quickening from 6.9 percent growth in April.On-year production has expa

June 30, 2011

Three funds bid for Woori Financial

Three private equity funds have submitted letters of intent to take over Woori Financial Group while no financial group will participate in the M&A competition.The Public Fund Oversight Committee, which closed the receiving of LOIs on Wednesday, said the potential buyers are MBK Partners, Vogo Investment, and TStone Partners.The committee, under the wing of the Financial Services Commission, plans

June 29, 2011

Seoul worried by financial sector’s short-term debt

Korea held an emergency meeting with major banks Wednesday to express its concern over growing short-term debt held by financial institutions here, the Finance Ministry said.The meeting was held earlier in the day at the government’s complex building in Gwacheon, south of Seoul, with officials of nine banks, including three foreign institutions, in attendance, according to the Ministry of Strategy

June 29, 2011

FSC targets OECD average in controlling household debt

The financial authorities on Wednesday pledged to bring snowballing household debt down to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development average.With household debt at a record high of more than 800 trillion won ($740 billion), the Financial Services Commission reiterated its commitment to tackling the issue.“We plan to stabilize the market gradually with the goal of lowering the debt

June 29, 2011

Hana chief shies away from Woori bidding

Hana Financial Group chairman Kim Seung-yu on Tuesday downplayed the possibility of the financial company participating in a bidding competition for Woori Financial Group.His remarks came one day ahead of the deadline for submitting letters of intent to financial authorities to attend the takeover bidding for state-run Woori Financial.He told reporters that it would not be easy for the group to pa

June 28, 2011

Securities firms could be hit by ban on short-term loans

The stock brokerage industry faces a revamping as financial regulators have decided to restrict transactions of “call money,” short-term loans provided to securities firms from financial companies.Citing the necessity of reducing the liquidity risk among securities firms, the Financial Supervisory Service said last week that it would ultimately ban brokerages from applying for call loans starting

June 27, 2011