Korea seeks to curb debt, bracing for Fed rate hike

South Korea’s financial authorities will enhance efforts to curb the growth of household debt to prepare for the possibility that the Federal Reserve might raise interest rates faster than market expectations after a surprising presidential election win by Donald Trump. According to a high-ranking official at the Financial Services Commission on Sunday, the Fed seems likely to increase its rates in December -- as it has long been preparing for -- despite the unexpected election result. The Korea

Nov. 13, 2016

Think tank warns about exodus of foreign bond investors from 2018

Foreign investors will likely pull their money out of the South Korean bond market starting in 2018 as they move to safer assets on an imminent rate hike by the US Federal Reserve, a report said Sunday.According to the report by the Korea Institute of Finance, the rate difference between South Korean and US three-year Treasurys reached 0.37 percentage point as of September this year, narrowing from about 1 percentage point in 2014 and around 2.5 percentage points in 2012.The narrowed disparity w

Nov. 13, 2016

Seven bidders seek Woori stake

A total of seven bidders participated in the main bidding for a combined more than 30 percent stake in Woori Bank, the Financial Services Commission said Friday.The FSC had a plan sell the 30 percent stake in 4 to 8 percent splinters to multiple investors without managerial rights for the bank. Korea Deposit Insurance Corp., the current largest shareholder of the bank, closed the bidding at 5 p.m. and seven out of 16 previously mentioned bidders submitted bids for the stake. The seven bidders in

Nov. 11, 2016

Woori Bank shares rise before Friday bidding round

Woori Bank shares rallied Thursday on hopes of a successful bidding Friday, the fifth attempt by the government to privatize a 30 percent stake in the bank. The bank’s shares have seen steady growth since late September when the Financial Services Commission announced its plan to sell the 30 percent stake in 4 to 8 percent splinters to multiple investors without managerial rights for the bank. On Thursday, the bank’s shares jumped 3.29 percent to close at 12,550 won. A total of 18 institutional

Nov. 10, 2016

Equities bounce back from Trump shock

South Korean stock markets rapidly rebounded Thursday, after the triumph of US President-elect Donald Trump, but individual shares showed mixed reactions, with biomedicine, refinery and defense manufacturers rising while exporters fell.Along with Japan’s Nikkei opening about 6 percent higher in the morning compared to Wednesday’s close, Seoul’s main bourse Kospi started the day 1.87 percent higher than the previous day. The secondary Kosdaq opened at 615.16, 2.57 percent higher. The Kospi finish

Nov. 10, 2016

Korea braces for market chaos after Trump win

South Korean economic and financial chiefs on Wednesday convened emergency meetings and vowed to brace for the inevitable chaos in the nation’s financial markets after the surprise victory of Donald Trump in the US presidential election.They also pledged to closely monitor and prepare measures against sudden and rapid changes in the economic policies of Korea’s second-largest national trading partner under the new leader.Yim Jong-yong, nominee for deputy prime minister for economy and current ch

Nov. 9, 2016

Seoul’s stock markets crash as election results pour in

As voting results in the US showed Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump leading against Democrat’s Hillary Clinton on Wednesday, the stock markets in South Korea, a major trade partner and longtime political ally, crashed in panic.Seoul’s main bourse Kospi opened higher than Tuesday in the morning, but began tumbling around 11 a.m. upon news of Trump beating Clinton in major swing states.Choi Sang-mok, first vice minister of the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, speaks during a meeting

Nov. 9, 2016

Yim’s chances of becoming economic chief hampered

Yim Jong-yong‘s chances of securing the position of deputy prime minister for the economy were hampered after President Park Geun-hye withdrew her earlier nomination of Kim Byong-joon as prime minister.Park on Tuesday gave into demands from critics and opposition to take back her surprise nominations of some of the key Cabinet positions last week. She had named Kim as the new premier along with Yim -- who is the current chairman of the Financial Services Commission -- and Park Seung-joo as the n

Nov. 9, 2016

[Photo News] Entrepreneurship competition

HSBC Korea CEO Martin Tricaud (center) and JA Korea CEO Kim Tae-joon (left of center) pose with Korean high schoolers who won an entrepreneurship competition at Olympic Parktel in Seoul on Saturday. The competition offers students a chance to experience running a business and selling products in the real market, the bank said. (HSBC Korea)

Nov. 7, 2016

[Kosdaq Star] Interflex braces for iPhone 8 in 2017

Interflex, a leading provider of flexible printed circuit boards, was hoping to see a turnaround from long-running deficits to a surplus by the third quarter of this year -- until it was hit by Samsung Electronics’ Galaxy Note 7 debacle.In August, the exclusive supplier of digitizers -- cutting-edge circuit boards that enable the function of the Galaxy S pen used in the smartphone -- had seen its stock value hit the peak of 21,200 won ($18) amid an upbeat mood for the new phablet. The mood had c

Nov. 7, 2016

Gov't in emergency mode on financial market

South Korea's financial authorities on Monday announced a shift to an emergency operation mode to cope with a host of challenges facing Asia's fourth-largest economy.Yim Jong-yong, tapped as the nation's finance minister, described the current situations as a crisis that's like "stepping on thin ice."Yim, chairman of the Financial Services Commission (FSC), was presiding over an emergency meeting with other top officials on finance and civilian leaders in the local market.It came amid growing wo

Nov. 7, 2016

China-sensitive stocks plunge amid prolonged THAAD backlash

Four months have passed since South Korea decided to deploy a US advanced missile defense system here, but backlash from the announcement continues to weigh on shares of China-sensitive Korean companies, data showed Sunday.According to data from the Korea Exchange, the combined market capitalization of 10 representative Korean companies sensitive to China-related issues fell 22 percent to 48.23 trillion won ($42.2 billion) as of Friday, from 61.82 trillion won on July 7. On July 8, Seoul agreed

Nov. 6, 2016

Mirae Asset Global Investments appoints new CEO

Mirae Asset Global Investments said Friday it has appointed Seo Yoo-seok, a veteran marketing strategist, as new CEO of the asset management business. Since joining Mirae Asset Securities in 1999, Seo headed Mirae Asset MAPS Global Investments, an investment management unit of the group, in 2011, and led the firm’s equity-traded fund business from 2012 to 2016.  Seo Yoo-seokThe company also appointed vice chairman Jeong Sang-kee as CEO of Energy Infra Co., a new unit designated to run a fund in

Nov. 4, 2016