The national financial regulator will strengthen risk management over the land- and commercial building-backed mortgage loans, seeking to control the country’s snowballing household debt, its top official said.New Financial Services Commission chairman Yim Jong-yong said in the weekly working-level meeting on Friday that the regulator would “make precise analyses of the household debt conditions, as if performing an MRI.” “We are planning on more active management on the land- and commercial bui

March 20, 2015

South Korean stocks closed marginally lower Friday, as investors opted to lock in part of recent gains spurred by the U.S. Federal Reserve's dovish stance on its monetary policy, analysts said. The local currency lost ground against the U.S. dollar.   The Korea Composite Stock Price Index fell 0.65 point, or 0.03 percent, to 2,037.24. Trading volume was moderate at 345.9 million shares worth 5.12 trillion won ($4.56 billion) with decliners outpacing gainers 409 to 407.   Analysts said the KOSPI,

March 20, 2015

Citibank Korea’s top priority management target this year is to achieve a zero customer complaint status.Under the leadership of president Park Jin-hei who took office in October last year, the U.S.-based bank has successfully reduced the number of civil complaints by up to 40 percent so far.Earlier this month, the bank held a resolution ceremony and distributed a “complaint zero” wristband to all employees, celebrating its recent achievement and renewing its aspiration for the zero complaint ta

March 19, 2015

South Korean banks are expected to shoulder snowballing corporate loan defaults in the upcoming months as a growing number of cash-starved companies are turning insolvent amid a long-protracted economic slump, industry data showed Thursday.Keangnam Enterprises, a local major builder, has been in the red for the recent few years, posting losses of 310.9 billion won ($279.3 million) in 2013 and 182.7 billion won in 2014 due to a deep slump in the local housing market, according to the data.The bui

March 19, 2015

South Korea's National Pension Service (NPS) has become a major driver of the local equity market this year as it launched stock investments at the highest level ever, bourse data showed Thursday.The government-owned pension fund has bought a net 2.5 trillion won ($2.2 billion) in the main KOSPI market this year as of Tuesday, mostly picking up battered blue-chip stocks, the Korea Exchange (KRX) said. Samsung Electronics Co., the nation's biggest firm by market value, and top automaker Hyundai M

March 19, 2015

South Korean stocks opened higher Thursday as the U.S. Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting results were in line with market expectations, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) moved up 16.23 points, or 0.8 percent, to 2,044.68 in the first 15 minutes of trading.Tech shares led the rise, with Samsung Electronics adding 0.27 percent and top chipmaker SK hynix climbing 1.08 percent. LG Electronics advanced 0.33 percent.Builders also opened higher, with Hyund

March 19, 2015

Funds that invest in foreign stocks have received a 470 billion won ($416 million) net inflow so far this year as investors chased after higher investment returns in overseas markets amid low interest rates at home, data showed Thursday. Foreign equity funds had a net 315 billion won cash inflow last month following 155 billion won in January, according to the data compiled by fund tracker Zeroin. January's tally marked the first monthly net positive since June 2009.Foreign stock funds have suff

March 19, 2015

Global financial leaders and experts will gather in Busan next week to discuss developing finance and boosting trade with Latin America and the Caribbean, the South Korean Finance Ministry said Wednesday. The Annual Meeting of the Boards of Governors of Inter-American Development Bank and Inter-American Investment Corporation, cohosted by the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, will run for four days from March 26 at BEXCO. Finance Minister Choi Kyung-hwan, who concurrently serves as deputy prime

March 18, 2015

South Korea’s economic growth is expected to be virtually flat in the first quarter of this year, with its gross domestic product posting in the near zero percent range for six consecutive fiscal quarters, analysts said Tuesday.Concerns are mounting that Asia’s fourth-largest economy will be entering an indefinite period of low growth amid sluggish consumption, investment and production.Korea has been growing below 1 percent since the fourth quarter of 2013 when its growth stood at 0.9 percent a

March 17, 2015

South Korean stocks soared Tuesday to a near six-month high as the central bank's rate cut last week whet investors' appetite for risky assets, analysts said. The local currency gained against the U.S. dollar.  The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index jumped 42.58 points, or 2.14 percent, to close at 2,029.91. Trading volume was moderate at 350.12 million shares worth 5.31 trillion won ($4.71 billion), with gainers outpacing losers 522 to 277.  Tuesday's closing is the highest since Sept.

March 17, 2015

The new chief financial regulator said Tuesday he will revamp the country's bourse system so that different markets can play stronger individual roles, just one of a number of reforms he outlined in his first press conference since taking office.  Yim Jong-yong, inaugurated Monday as the head of the Financial Services Commission, said he does not plan to relax property market regulations despite the high-paced household loan hikes, asking for more time to monitor the effects of prior deregulatio

March 17, 2015

South Korea saw a record high level of capital invested in short-term financial instruments as consumers and investors have been reluctant to invest in long-term assets due to low market interest rates following recent key base rate cuts.Short-term investments ― floating funds invested in repurchase agreements and money market funds with maturities of less than a year ― reached a record of 800.7 trillion won ($705 billion) at the end of January, according to the Bank of Korea and the Korea Finan

March 16, 2015

Financial corporations were found to have the highest entertainment expenses among all industries in 2013, the tax collector reported on Monday.Analysts said the results indicate that the financial industry could be hurt most by the new anticorruption bill set to take effect in October next year.In 2013, the country’s 18,518 financial firms, including insurers, banks and brokerages, spent a total of 750 billion won ($661.7 million) as “entertainment spending,” including expenditure on gifts, mea

March 16, 2015