FSC fails to reduce burden on taxpayers

Financial groups may avoid taking on bad assets of savings banksThe government-led restructuring of savings banks may end up injecting a sizable amount of taxpayers’ money into troubled secondary financial institutions, industry watchers said. The Financial Supervisory Commission is in talks with potential investors including Woori Financial Group to arrange a sweeping rescue scheme for distressed

Jan. 20, 2011

Seoul stocks down on profit-taking

Korean stocks ended 0.43 percent lower on Thursday on profit-taking and worries over China’s further monetary tightening, analysts said. The local currency dropped against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) declined 9.03 percent to 2,106.66, retreating from an all-time high of 2,115.69 a day earlier. Trading volume was moderate at 328.8 million shares worth 6.4

Jan. 20, 2011

Hana Financial in alliance with Chinese bank

China Merchant Bank expected to boost Korean group’s expansionHana Financial Group has established a strategic partnership with China Merchant Bank, the country’s sixth-largest lender, beefing up ammunition for its planned portfolio diversification and expansion of China operations. The Korean financial group said Tuesday that the agreement will involve cooperation on a range of joint financial se

Jan. 18, 2011

Kookmin Bank pushes for aggressive downsizing

Kookmin Bank is accelerating its major manpower restructuring, transferring 219 underperforming employees to an extra department designed for retraining.A certain portion of them will likely face dismissal or be pressured to quit if they fail to reach a certain level of performance within about two years, an official of the nation’s largest bank said Tuesday.The employees at the department are obl

Jan. 18, 2011

Offshore tax evasion faces crackdown

NTS to focus on paper companies being used to evade tax, hide moneyThe National Tax Service on Monday vowed to toughen its crackdown on offshore tax evasion by wealthy persons and large businesses as one of its priorities this year.The tax authority said it will step up curbs on borrowed-name financial transactions often used by companies to manipulate their incomes. It will also enhance the inqui

Jan. 17, 2011

Firms’ direct financing drops 10.4% in Dec.

Korean companies’ direct financing shrank 10.4 percent in December from a month earlier due to a drop in corporate bond sales, the financial regulator said Monday.Local firms raised a total of 9.4 trillion won ($8.4 billion) through sales of stocks and bonds last month, compared with 10.5 trillion won in November, the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) said in a report. The decline came due to co

Jan. 17, 2011

Won rises 2.6% against dollar in 2010

The Korean currency gained 2.6 percent against the U.S. dollar last year amid robust exports and continued capital inflows, the central bank said Monday.The won’s gain was the smallest last year among major Asian currencies excluding the Hong Kong dollar, which lost 0.2 percent against the greenback, according to the Bank of Korea. Hong Kong has pegged its currency to the greenback.Among major Asi

Jan. 17, 2011

G20 committee to go under Finance Ministry

The government is placing the Presidential Committee for the G20 Summit into the Finance ministry as a task force during February to coordinate follow-ups of agendas with France, the G20 chair for this year.“The G20 preparation body was created to organize the G20 Seoul summit last year and we are readying to move them to the Finance Ministry,” the government said.The committee will be comprised o

Jan. 17, 2011

FSC criticized for savings banks push

Financial groups may see reputation undermined by acquiring distressed institutionsThe Financial Services Commission has come under criticism for apparently pressuring major financial groups to take over distressed savings banks.Bankers expressed skepticism over the financial watchdog’s move after it unveiled plans last week to put ailing savings banks up for auction and suspend operations at some

Jan. 17, 2011

Banks raising interest rates on loans to households

Commercial banks are raising interest rates on their loans following the increase of the benchmark rate last week, heightening the financial burden on households and small firms. The Bank of Korea unexpectedly raised the seven-day repurchase rate by 25 basis points on Thursday, as Korea grapples with higher inflation stemming from strong economic growth and rising oil, grain and other commodity pr

Jan. 16, 2011

Japan may raise rates due to ‘unhealthy’ debt picture

Japanese borrowing costs may rise if the country’s fiscal condition remains “unhealthy,” with bond sales exceeding tax revenue, the country’s new economy and fiscal policy minister said.“If the unhealthy situation continues for a long time, long-term interest rates will inevitably rise and hurt Japan’s global credibility,” said Kaoru Yosano at a news conference late Saturday in Tokyo after being a

Jan. 16, 2011

Government to probe savings banks

South Korea's state-run asset management corporation plans to conduct probes on real estate-related project financing operations under the control of local savings banks, a source said Saturday.The Korea Asset Management Corp. (KAMCO) source said 386 project financing projects are to be checked, as concerns have been raised about deteriorating conditions that can cause trouble for the lenders.Afte

Jan. 15, 2011

Sugar makers face antitrust investigation

The Fair Trade Commission has launched an investigation into the nation’s three major sugar manufacturers to see if they are implicated in irregular practices in pricing products, sources said Friday. The antitrust probe is aimed at examining their profit margins, distribution costs and other related factors to determine whether companies mark up prices too much, according to industry sources. Giv

Jan. 14, 2011