Samsung Life earnings more than double in 2010

  Samsung Life Insurance Co., South Korea's top life insurer, said Thursday that its earnings more than doubled in fiscal 2010 from a year earlier thanks to investment gains from its securities holdings.   Net income came to 1.93 trillion won ($1.8 billion) during the fiscal year that ended on March 31, compared with 906.1 billion won a year earlier, Samsung Life said in a regulatory filing.    Sa

April 21, 2011

Financial security loopholes stir debate over BOK’s role

Question of central bank’s supervisory authority emergesRecent security incidents in the financial sector have reignited debate on whether the Bank of Korea should have authority to conduct independent inquiries into financial companies.Currently, the central bank is only entitled to probe financial companies jointly with the Financial Supervisory Service.While FSS-BOK joint investigations are foc

April 20, 2011

Competition brewing over fledging hedge funds

Brokerages seek to capture rich investors on expectations of financial deregulationBrokerages are struggling to capture wealthy investors with high-yielding private equity products as deregulation in homegrown hedge funds looms large.Money poured into hedge fund-style products as soon as top brokerages such as Samsung, Woori Investment and Korea Investment rolled them out in the past month, sparki

April 20, 2011

Credit card spending up 16.2% in Q1

South Korea’s credit card spending expanded 16.2 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier amid the country’s consumer price advance, a trade association said Wednesday. Purchases made by credit card amounted to 105.2 trillion won ($96.9 billion) during the January-March period, compared with 90.6 trillion won in the same period last year, according to the Credit Finance Association.The dat

April 20, 2011

Bad bank may acquire W4tr in toxic loans

A bad bank, which is about to emerge under financial regulators’ move to write off overdue assets, is expected to absorb as much as 4 trillion won ($3.6 billion) in overdue loans held by financial companies.While regulators are considering setting up the bad bank before the third quarter, sources predicted Tuesday that it could initially purchase around 4 trillion won in soured project finance loa

April 19, 2011

FSS denies lawmaker’s allegation of wrongdoing

DP legislator claims officials withdrew money before savings bank shutdownThe allegation that former and incumbent financial regulatory officials exploited insider information for their own means has been contentious issue amid the recent liquidity woes in the secondary banking sector.An opposition lawmaker has claimed that several financial regulatory officials withdrew their deposits from saving

April 19, 2011

Research unit considered to support emerging market entry

The government is mulling a research institution to provide the groundwork to help local companies advance into emerging markets, Finance Minister Yoon Jeung-hyun said Monday.“In order to attain sustainable growth, it is important to consolidate ties with emerging countries by establishing cooperative channels and expanding free trade agreements,” Yoon said at a policy meeting. He said there is a

April 19, 2011

Dividends to foreigners grow 33 pct in 2010

 South Korea's listed companies paid out 33 percent more in dividends to foreign shareholders in 2010 than a year earlier, helped by an increase in earnings, data showed Monday.   A total of 4.97 trillion won ($4.6 billion) in dividends were paid to foreigners last year, compared with 3.73 trillion won in the previous year, according to the data by the Korea Exchange (KRX).   Last year's dividend

April 18, 2011

S. Korean banks' foreign borrowing jumps in March

  South Korean banks' mid to long-term foreign borrowing jumped in March from the previous month as they braced for rising global uncertainties, the financial regulator said Monday.     Twelve local banks borrowed a total of $3.49 billion last month through overseas bond issuance and loans with a maturity over one year, $1.68 billion more than in February, according to the Financial Supervisory Se

April 18, 2011

Seoul shares inch down after strong start

   South Korean stocks lost ground on Monday after a strong start as investors unloaded tech blue chips and bank shares, analysts said.   The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) shed 1.29 points, or 0.06 percent, to trade at 2,139.21 in the first 15 minutes of trading.   The KOSPI touched a record high of 2,149.45 as soon as the market opened, but tech and financial shares increase

April 18, 2011

Korea targets tax cheats in foreign havens

Kwon Hyuk, a reclusive shipping tycoon, shows how to get around paying taxes in and out of more than five trading borders while keeping over 10 trillion won ($9 billion) in assets.Register your business at a tax haven, stash all your profits there, and pretend you live abroad. Minimize paperwork. Even better if you can avoid the press.Kwon has been the main target of the Korean government’s latest

April 17, 2011

FSC to ease loan conditions for the poor

Overdue payments of less than 100,000 won no longer reflected in credit ratingsThe government on Sunday announced a set of measures to provide the poor with better access to financial sources as mounting household debts loom large over economic recovery. The package proposed by the Financial Services Commission centers on the overhaul of credit rating guidelines, market interest rates and individu

April 17, 2011

Import price growth reached 27-month high last month

South Korea’s import prices rose at the fastest pace in 27 months in March due to sharp gains in oil and other commodity prices, the central bank said Friday, pointing to growing inflationary pressure.In local currency terms, the country’s import prices jumped 19.6 percent in March from a year earlier, picking up from a 16.9 percent on-year advance in February, according to the Bank of Korea.The M

April 15, 2011

Korean exports dominate Chile’s import market

South Korea has more best-selling products in Chile than any other country thanks mainly to a free trade agreement with the South American nation implemented seven years ago, a local trade agency said Friday.According to the state-run Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency, South Korea currently has 40 best-selling products out of 150 key import items of Chile. Seoul also has 29 second best-selli

April 15, 2011

Stocks hit new high on earnings hopes

Korean stocks rose 0.9 percent to a fresh high on Thursday as auto and chemical shares got a boost from optimism over their first-quarter earnings, analysts said. The local currency edged up against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) advanced 19.14 points to a new record-high close of 2,141.06. The previous record was 2,130.43 set on April 5. Trading volume was

April 14, 2011