The financial regulator on Monday announced fresh rules to toughen household lending at non-bank financial companies, putting the brakes on burgeoning private sector debt, which is nearing 900 trillion won ($801 billion).Lenders in the secondary banking sector, including cooperatives, have been ordered to limit lending money to non-members of the credit firm to less than one-third of their total loan, according to the Financial Services Commission. The National Agricultural Cooperative Federatio

Feb. 27, 2012

South Korean stocks dropped 1.42 percent Monday on concerns that rising oil prices may hurt the South Korean economy and corporate earnings, analysts said. The local currency fell against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index lost 28.73 points to end at 1,991.16. Trading volume was moderate at 629 million shares worth 5.48 trillion won ($4.85 billion) with decliners leading gainers 570 to 275.“Rising oil prices could be a big burden to the local economy and hurt corpora

Feb. 27, 2012

Korea Exchange Bank dismissed all nine of its executives Monday, under the business policy of its new CEO Yun Yong-ro to revamp management structure.His move comes a month after financial regulators endorsed Hana Financial Group’s takeover of KEB from Lone Star Funds.Yun, the first KEB CEO under the wing of Hana Financial, notified the nine executives, including four deputy CEOs, that their terms would not be extended.The executives were at their posts during Lone Star’s management of the bank f

Feb. 27, 2012

Korean shares’ direction next week will most likely be affected by rising oil prices and lingering worries over the eurozone debt problems, analysts said Saturday.The benchmark KOSPI ended this week at 2,019.89, down 0.17 percent or 3.58 points from a week earlier.The KOSPI got off to a strong start, driven by the news that China lowered the reserve ratio for its banks. During the week, Wall Street rallies also bolstered investor sentiment here as the Dow Jones industrial average cracked the 13,

Feb. 26, 2012

Korea will toughen rules on household lending by non-bank financial companies in an effort to put the brakes on its rapid growth, the financial regulator said Sunday.Non-bank financial firms, including cooperatives and insurers, will be required to lower their loan-to-deposit ratios to less than 80 percent in two years and to increase credit loss provisions for high-risk loans, the Financial Services Commission said in a statement. Even as the average loan-to-deposit ratio at non-bank financial

Feb. 26, 2012

ICON Media Communications, an investor relations firm with offices in New York and Los Angeles, announced that it has formed a strategic partnership with Seoul IR Consulting.The tie is aimed at promoting strategic communications counsel between the U.S. and Korean financial markets while enhancing the brand of the two firms in the investment community.“This partnership marks a milestone for ICON as we continue to expand our footprint into the global markets,” said Debra Chen, founder of ICON. “B

Feb. 26, 2012

The labor dispute in Standard Chartered Bank Korea has entered a critical phase again as its management recently failed to reach a compromise with the union.The union of Standard Chartered has threatened to stage a general strike amid the standstill in their negotiations with the management.Though the unionized workers, who went on a walkout between June and August, returned to work, the dispute has not been resolved, according to bank spokespeople.“They are working at branches. But their protes

Feb. 26, 2012

Chairman could oversee Hana’s emergence as Korea’s No. 1 financial groupHana Financial Group plans to select the successor to incumbent chairman Kim Seung-yu, whose term expires in late March, in the coming days.The new chairman will be the second figure to head Hana Financial since Kim took on the top post in 2005.Further, Kim’s successor will take on the role of integrating different corporate culture of Hana Bank and Korea Exchange Bank, which was acquired by the group this month, over the ne

Feb. 26, 2012

Korean stocks finished 0.6 percent higher Friday as foreign investors scooped up Seoul shares on economic optimism, analysts said. The local currency rose against the U.S. dollar. Reversing its earlier fall, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index added 12.09 points to 2,019.89. Trading volume was heavy at 709 million shares worth 5.64 trillion won ($5.02 billion) with gainers leading losers 490 to 323. “In the morning, the KOSPI was dragged down by concerns over rising oil prices and wo

Feb. 24, 2012

Korean consumers’ inflation expectations eased slightly in February from the previous month, the Bank of Korea said Friday.South Korean consumers expect inflation in Asia’s fourth-largest economy to reach a yearly average of 4 percent over the next 12 months, according to a survey by the BOK. In January, the median expectation for the inflation rate stood at 4.1 percent.The February reading was slightly lower than the previous month’s data, but inflation expectations failed to fall below the 4 p

Feb. 24, 2012

Solid fundamentals, foreign investors’ bond purchases boost value of the local currencyThe Korean won stays strong amid a flurry of reports that its value might go up further on the strength of foreign investors opting for Korean bonds. The local currency strengthened 2.5 percent as of Feb. 24 from of January against the U.S. dollar, outpacing the euro (0.9 percent) and the Japanese yen (1.8 percent), according to the Bank of Korea. HSBC said in a recent report that the Korean won is likely to f

Feb. 24, 2012

More than eight in every 10 adults in Korea own at least one credit card, a poll showed Friday, indicating plastic money has become the main means of settlement in Asia’s fourth-largest economy.According to the survey of 2,000 people aged 20-70 by the Korea Consumer Agency, 1,647 respondents, or 82.4 percent said they have at least one credit card.Of the tallied holders, 24 percent answered they have only one credit card, with the percentage for those with two and three standing at 30.7 percent

Feb. 24, 2012

By Kim Yon-seKB Financial Group has been expanding its social contribution activities such as educational programs for students and donations to the needy.In particular, the group’s social foundation is diversifying educational and scholarship programs.Last year, the group set up the KB Financial Public Foundation, specialized in education and research, to support economic and financial research projects.The foundation controls 20 billion won ($17.5 million) of funds donated by KB and its subsid

Feb. 23, 2012

The National Agricultural Cooperative Federation, or Nonghyup, faced another problem with its cyber transaction systems early Thursday.A certain proportion of Nonghyup customers could not access its internet banking system for about five hours until 7 a.m. on the day.As this marked the fifth glitch in online transactions in less than one year for Nonghyup, its cyber security system has been regarded as seriously vulnerable to hackers.In April 2011, it suffered a critical breakdown of the network

Feb. 23, 2012

Korean stocks finished 1.03 percent lower Thursday, as foreign and institutional investors cut shares after recent surges, analysts said. The local currency fell against the U.S. dollar. The benchmark KOSPI fell 20.85 points to 2,007.8. Trading volume was heavy at 678 million shares worth 6.28 trillion won with losers leading gainers 491 to 337. “Sell-offs from foreign and institutional investors dragged down the index,” said Kwak Joong-bo, an analyst at Samsung Securities Co. “The KOSPI probabl

Feb. 23, 2012

Analysts projected earnings to drop at major listed firms on the KOSPI as export conditions deteriorate with still-elevated oil prices and eurozone output contracting.FnGuide, the most widely accessed financial information provider here, lowered the earnings forecasts this week for 108 companies listed on the KOSPI to 81.3 trillion won ($72 billion), down 7.98 percent from the 88.3 trillion won it made in September.The downward adjustment came as the index climbed up almost 400 points from the d

Feb. 23, 2012

Shares of Hanwha Corp. will be suspended from stock trading for one session due to its negligent regulatory posting, the bourse operator said Thursday. The holding company of Hanwha Group, a family-owned conglomerate, has been blacklisted by the bourse operator as “a negligent firm” which has delayed posting necessary investor information on its regulatory filings, the Korea Exchange said. Because it failed to follow set rules, the company’s shares will not be traded on the main bourse for the w

Feb. 23, 2012