Korea suffers massive outflow of foreign capital

Foreign investors are seen to have sold up to 2 trillion won ($1.8 billion) in the main bourse here this month, most likely affected by the default concerns in major emerging countries.Overseas investors net-sold local shares worth 314.6 billion won on the Korea Exchange on Tuesday, after net selling 524.5 billion won in Monday’s trading to post record-breaking sales for this month, according to industry data. So far this year, their combined net-selling came to 1.68 trillion won, and equity mar

Jan. 28, 2014

Banks’ lending rates rise for second month in December

South Korean banks’ lending rates rose for the second straight month in December as demand for funds by larger firms increased, the central bank said Tuesday.The average rates for new loans to households and firms stood at 4.52 percent in December, up 0.02 of a percentage point from the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea.The central bank froze the key interest rate at 2.5 percent for the eighth straight month in January after making its first rate cut in seven months in May.The avera

Jan. 28, 2014

Seoul shares up 0.12 pct in late morning trade

South Korean stocks traded 0.12 percent higher late Tuesday morning following sharp falls in the previous day sparked by financial jitters in some emerging countries, analysts said.After starting lower, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 2.24 points to 1,912.58 as of 11:10 a.m.Foreign investors remained net sellers of local stocks.Top automaker Hyundai Motor advanced 2.68 percent and chip giant SK hynix rose 2.4 percent.Defensive stocks such as telecommunication shares shot up.

Jan. 28, 2014

S. Korea to sell 11 tln won in Treasury bills in February-March

South Korea plans to sell a total of 11 trillion won ($10.15 billion) worth of Treasury bills in February and March of this year, the finance ministry said Tuesday.Treasury bills raise money for the government to deal with short-term financial shortfalls. They are generally sold with a maturity of less than one year.The ministry said that it will sell 5 trillion won worth of Treasury bills in February with a maturity of 63 days. It also plans to sell 6 trillion won worth of such bills in March w

Jan. 28, 2014

Insurers' loan delinquency ratio rises in November

The delinquency ratio of loans by South Korean insurance companies inched up in November from a month earlier mainly due to a rise in overdue corporate debts, the financial watchdog said Tuesday.The bad loan ratio of life and nonlife insurers stood at 0.72 percent in November, up 0.03 percentage point from the previous month, according to the Financial Supervisory Service.A delinquent insurance loan refers to a debt that has been overdue in both principal and interest for more than a month.The r

Jan. 28, 2014

FSC seeks law to block scammers’ phone calls, texts

Policymakers are pushing for a law revision designed to protect mobile phone users from financial crimes such as “voice phishing” and “smishing.” Voice phishing involves posing as financial company employees or other officials over the phone. Smishing is a variant of this that uses text messaging.A huge number of consumers say they have fallen prey to such schemes, which primarily use deception to get people to transfer money into the criminals’ bank accounts. The Financial Services Commission,

Jan. 27, 2014

Civic group urges resignation of financial heads over data leak

The country's chief economic policymaker and top financial regulators should resign over the recent unprecedented theft of confidential data of 20 million people, a leading civic group demanded Monday.Early this month, the Financial Services Commission, the country's financial regulator, revealed that some 20 million card and bank users' personal data, including bank account numbers, addresses and credit ratings, had been leaked from KB Kookmin, Nonghyup and Lotte.A leak also occurred at a bank

Jan. 27, 2014

Park rebukes finance minister over data leak remarks

President Park Geun-hye issued a rebuke to the finance minister Monday after he suggested consumers are also at fault in the data leak crisis, saying she would hold anyone who makes similar hurtful remarks accountable.Finance Minister Hyun Oh-seok caused uproar by suggesting that consumers were also to blame for not taking caution in providing their personal information. Hyun, who doubles as deputy prime minister, apologized, but the opposition party has been demanding his resignation."It is reg

Jan. 27, 2014

Gov't to crack down harder on phone fraud schemes

The government is seeking to root out phone-based financial frauds amid rising public concerns that the personal data stolen in recent information thefts will be used by scammers, industry sources said Monday.According to the sources, the government and political parties are poised to pass a revised bill on personal data protection next month that strengthens requirements for short message service providers and strictly regulates data sharing among corporate affiliates.Early this month, the Fina

Jan. 27, 2014

S. Korean pension fund ups stake in midcap shares

South Korea's state-run pension fund has expanded its clout in the country's midcap shares last year, as it sought to buy undervalued but promising shares amid a lackluster performance of the local stock market, data showed Monday.The National Pension Service, the operator of the National Pension Fund, said the number of companies in which it holds a 10 percent stake or more rose to 34 at the end of last year, compared with 18 logged at the end of third quarter.Of the tallied firms, 22 companies

Jan. 27, 2014

Seoul shares open lower on emerging market jitters

South Korean stocks started weaker Monday as Wall Street sharply declined on financial jitters in some emerging countries, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index fell 35.97 points, or 1.85 percent, to 1,904.59 in the first 11 minutes of trading.Market leader Samsung Electronics fell 1.07 percent and top automaker Hyundai Motor shed 2.19 percent.The Seoul government said Sunday that the Federal Reserve's tapering of quantitative easing, along with the slowing economic growt

Jan. 27, 2014

Korean consumer sentiment hits 35-month high in January

South Korean consumer sentiment rose to its highest in nearly three years in January as the local economy showed signs of improvement, the central bank said Monday.The consumer sentiment index came in at 109 for January, up from 107 recorded for December last year, according to the Bank of Korea. The index is a gauge of consumers' overall economic outlook, living conditions and future spending.The index marked its highest level since it hit 109 in February 2011.A reading above 100 means that opt

Jan. 27, 2014

Little change expected for Seoul shares this week

The South Korean stock market is expected to move sideways throughout this week from lack of clear momentum as investors gauge fourth-quarter corporate earnings and wait for the results of the Federal Open Market Committee meeting, analysts said Saturday.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index gave up 0.03 percent from the previous week to close at 1,940.56 Friday.Earlier in the week, Seoul shares managed to gather some headway, in part helped by China taking steps to inject more liquidi

Jan. 26, 2014

S. Korea says will monitor financial instability in emerging countries

South Korea will closely monitor growing uncertainties in the global market, especially newly emerging countries, to prepare for any possible impact on the local economy, the government said Sunday.In an emergency meeting, chaired by Vice Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho, the government noted the United States' anticipated tapering of quantitative easing, along with the slowing economic growth of China, were causing financial instability in developing countries, including Argentina and Turkey."New

Jan. 26, 2014

Growth of foreign investors in S. Korean stock market slows to 10-yr low

The rise in the number of foreign investors in South Korea's stock market slowed to a 10-year low last year, the financial watchdog said Sunday.According to the Financial Supervisory Service, the number of foreign investors in the local market came to 37,611 in 2013, up 5.4 percent from the previous year.Such a rise marks a continuation of recent increases, but the lowest on-year gain since 2003.Of all foreign investors here, 26.3 percent, or 9,904, were individual investors with foreign busines

Jan. 26, 2014

Seoul mulls bankruptcy system for local gov'ts

South Korea is considering introducing a bankruptcy system for highly indebted local administrations to make them more responsible for fiscal soundness, the home affairs ministry said Sunday.Under the envisioned system, local administrations may be declared bankrupt when they are unable to pay back matured debts for 30 days or more, according to the Ministry of Security and Public Administration."The ministry began a study on introducing a bankruptcy system so that local governments will take gr

Jan. 26, 2014

NongHyup M&A bid questioned after leak

Some lawmakers have begun to tackle NongHyup Financial Group’s status as the preferred bidder for Woori Investment & Securities in the wake of the data leakage accident involving stolen information of NongHyup Card holders.Rep. Kang Gi-jung of the main opposition Democratic Party pointed to past irregularities of NongHyup Financial Group during a financial regulators’ report to the parliamentary National Policy Committee on Thursday.Stressing that many irregular practices, including the hacking

Jan. 24, 2014

Citigroup hints at trimming Korean branches

A top official from Citigroup has hinted at trimming branches in Korea amid a streak of weak profits.John Gerspach, chief financial officer at Citi, said that the third-biggest U.S. lender is preparing to shutter locations outside urban areas in the country this year to focus on wealthier clients. The restructuring plan is part of the group’s “urban-type strategy” to improve returns, the CFO said Thursday in a conference call with analysts.“We have done some of that, but hope to do that (in Kore

Jan. 24, 2014