The nation’s top financial watchdog said Wednesday that it will retrieve deposits withdrawn improperly at Busan Savings Bank right before the agency suspended its businesses.The Financial Supervisory Service took the action a day after President Lee Myung-bak ordered a thorough probe into allegations that relatives and friends of employees at some savings banks withdrew deposits on the eve their o

April 28, 2011

By Kim Yon-seKorean consumers’ purchasing power has weakened on average even though the economy sustained its pace of growth during the first quarter, a Bank of Korea report showed Wednesday.The central bank said the country saw its growth rate of gross domestic product post 4.2 percent in the first quarter on a year-on-year basis and 1.4 percent on a quarter-to-quarter basis.But the gross domesti

April 27, 2011

Foreign life insurance companies operating in South Korea claimed 16.9 percent of the local market in terms of assets last year, industry data showed Wednesday.The combined assets of the nine foreign life insurers reached 68.9 trillion won ($63.8 billion) as of the end of 2010, according to the data. However, the figure is dwarfed by the 408.4 trillion won in total assets held by the three leading

April 27, 2011

South Korean manufacturers’ business confidence for May rose to the highest level in eight months due to optimism about the economic recovery, the central bank said Wednesday.The index of manufacturers’ outlook on business conditions reached 100 for May, up from 95 for April, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK). The index measures manufacturers’ outlook on business conditions for the coming month

April 27, 2011

Ruling on Lone Star’s eligibility as KEB owner postponedThe Financial Services Commission decided to delay its ruling on the issue of Lone Star Funds’ eligibility as the majority shareholder of KEB.The decision marks a shift from its earlier stance to rule on whether the U.S. fund was a financial investor in 2003 in its scheduled panel meeting Wednesday.Though the issue has come into the spotlight

April 27, 2011

South Korea’s top three life insurers posted greater losses in their overseas operations in fiscal 2010 from a year ago due mainly to increased start-up costs, the financial watchdog said Tuesday.The combined net loss of the eight overseas subsidiaries operated by the three biggest life insurance firms, including Samsung Life Insurance Co., came to $13.1 million last year, compared with $7.7 milli

April 26, 2011

FSC approved fund’s buyout of KEB, but consensus is that decision was wrongThe long-standing issue involving U.S. Lone Star Funds is embarrassing financial regulators again this year.The Financial Services Commission and the Financial Supervisory Service have recently shown off regulatory power by taking urgent countermeasures against several accidents including cyber system breakdown and hacking

April 26, 2011

South Korean prosecutors have summoned about a dozen employees of Deutsche Bank's New York and Hong Kong offices for questioning over alleged stock manipulation that forced the key index to nosedive last year, officials said Monday.The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office believes that employees at the German bank's overseas bureaus gave orders to the Seoul unit to place massive sell orders

April 25, 2011

South Korea's top financial regulator said Monday that it has launched a probe into SC First Bank, the local unit of British banking giant Standard Chartered Plc, on allegedly infringing domestic bank regulations by giving metal loans to corporate customers. "Investigators were dispatched to SC First Bank and if we find (the bank) violated local regulations, we will summon the bank officials and d

April 25, 2011

Income inequality widened over the past decade, with the gains among the top 20 percent rising by more than half while those of the poorest 20 percent more than halved, the tax agency said Monday.Taxable income reported by the wealthiest 20 percent stood at an average of 90 million won ($83,210) in 2009, up 55 percent from 1999 when the figure was 58 million won, the National Tax Services said. Ga

April 25, 2011

The Financial Supervisory Service is facing allegations that it failed to prevent its internal information from being leaked concerning the regulatory policies on savings banks.Among the allegations are that several customers of Busan Savings Bank withdrew large deposits a day before regulators suspended operations of the distressed bank in February.It has been alleged that key staffers of Busan S

April 25, 2011

Combined debts of Samsung, Hyundai Motor grow by 89 trillion wonThe nation’s 30 biggest business groups saw their combined debts snowball over the past three years, which could undermine their financial soundness, the Fair Trade Commission said on Sunday.According to the antitrust regulator, debts held by the top 30 groups came to 1.03 quadrillion won ($925 billion) as of March 2011, up 51.2 perce

April 24, 2011

Companies considering bigger budget and greater restrictions to protect dataThe local financial sector geared up to tighten security of its IT systems after watching hackers take advantage of security loopholes in the nation’s top financial firms, sources said Thursday. Major banks here said they were devising measures to step up security, such as beefing up their oversight teams or banning employ

April 21, 2011