Corporate tax hike shapes up as divisive issue

[THE INVESTOR] Whether to increase corporate taxes is shaping up as a key issue of contention between major political parties in the new parliament that began its inaugural session Monday.The chief policymaker of the liberal main opposition Minjoo Party of Korea last week reaffirmed the party would soon submit a tax code revision bill to raise the maximum corporate tax rate, which would be applied to companies with annual profits exceeding 50 billion won ($42.6 million), to 25 percent from the c

June 13, 2016

[DECODED: Mirae Asset] A reality check on ‘Korean IB’ dream

[THE INVESTOR] Global investment banking giants lament that their glory days are over. But for many Koreans, investment banking is still finance’s final frontier, all the more fascinating because it seems way beyond their reach. Park Hyeon-joo, arguably the most successful financier born in Korea, eyes Korea‘s presence in the world of investment bankers, from which existing players have been retreating. He aims to grow his Mirae Asset Financial Group into Asia’s leading investment bank. “I have

June 13, 2016

[DECODED: Mirae Asset] Mirae Asset under pressure to reform corporate governance　

[THE INVESTOR] Park Hyeon-joo, the founder and chairman of Mirae Asset Financial Group, tells his fund managers and executives to think global, have a long term vision and always be the first mover in the market.  Those principles, however, don’t seem to apply to his own ownership of the group.      Mirae Asset is under increasing pressure to reform its corporate governance structure, the cost of which Park seems to think of as a potential drag on global expansion.  Experts say Mirae Asset will

June 13, 2016

[DECODED: Mirae Asset] The dichotomy of Park Hyeon-joo

[THE INVESTOR] On the Monday after Christmas, Park Hyeon-joo took to the podium at the just-opened Four Seasons Hotel in Seoul, giving his first press conference in eight years. Mirae Asset Financial Group, which he founded in 1997 with 10 billion won ($8.4 million), had just won the hotly contested race to acquire control of KDB Daewoo Securities, a much bigger rival with a long proud legacy but a checkered recent history.  With the 2.4 trillion-won buy, Park’s biggest bet so far, the man who w

June 13, 2016

Lotte in crisis as probe widens

[THE INVESTOR] South Korean retail giant Lotte Group is facing its worst management crisis to date as the prosecution expands its probe on the group and its seven affiliates over allegations of embezzlement and the creation of a multibillion won slush fund.More than 200 investigators from the Seoul Central Prosecutor’s office raided 17 Lotte offices Friday morning, including the group headquarters in central Seoul and the residence of Lotte Group chairman Shin Dong-bin and key executives.Lee San

June 12, 2016

POSCO most popular stock among foreign investors

Korean steelmaking giant POSCO was the most popular stock this year for foreign investors, market data showed Monday, amid improving sentiments helped by its better-than-expected earnings. According to financial data provider FnGuide, foreign investors bought a net 475.8 billion won ($407.3 million) worth of POSCO stocks on the Seoul bourse during the January-May period. This was the largest portion of foreign net buying, which came to about 3.39 trillion won in the period.Shares in the steelmak

June 11, 2016

Samsung still interested in selling off Cheil

Cheil Worldwide, an advertising unit of Samsung Group, is rumored to be in talks to merge with a new global partner after its recent failed talks with French ad giant Publicis Groupe. According to news reports Friday, the group is also planning to spin off the sports business division from Cheil, which has operated the firm’s sports teams, to better appeal to a possible buyer. Samsung is reported to have tried to sell the sports business to Publicis but the French partner expressed its reluctanc

June 10, 2016

Hanmi Science acquires medication management firm JVM

[THE INVESTOR] Hanmi Science, the holding company of South Korea’s Hanmi Pharmaceutical, said Thursday that it has acquired local medication management automation company JVM Co. under a stock swap agreement.　Hanmi Science acquired a 30 percent stake in JVM by purchasing 1.89 million JVM shares for 129 billion won ($112 million) -- 20 percent of which was paid in cash and the remaining 80 percent through Hanmi Science shares.Hanmi Science (Yonhap)“Through the merger, we expect great synergies be

June 9, 2016

BOK slashes base rate to new historic low

[THE INVESTOR] The Bank of Korea on Thursday slashed the key interest rate to a new historic low in a surprise move that came one day after the government finalized measures to support corporate restructuring. The seven-day repurchase rate has been cut by 0.25 percentage point to 1.25 percent, the lowest on record. The BOK last reduced the borrowing cost in June 2015 amid the outbreak of the deadly Middle East respiratory syndrome virus here. A reduction was seen coming, but not this month. Near

June 9, 2016

Antitrust body to ease regulation on conglomerates

[THE INVESTOR] The nation’s fair trade authorities said Thursday it would ease a key regulation to ban excessive expansion of conglomerates by raising the asset ceiling for its conglomerate watch list for the first time in seven years.In an economy-related ministers meeting held in Seoul, the Fair Trade Commission said it would boost the minimum asset criteria to 10 trillion won ($8.65 billion) from 5 trillion won. Fair Trade Commission in Sejong City (Yonhap)Mobile messaging giant Kakao and bio

June 9, 2016

Korea to inject W12tr into policy banks

The Ministry of Strategy and Finance and the Bank of Korea will inject 12 trillion won ($10 billion) both directly and indirectly via a fund into policy banks to finance the restructuring of debt-laden shipping and shipbuilding companies.Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho said Wednesday that the government and the central bank have agreed to pursue restructuring through a mix of fiscal and monetary measures, adding that BOK will provide 10 trillion won as a loan to the Industrial Bank of Korea.With the

June 8, 2016

Continental may participate in bidding for Kumho Tire

German automotive firm Continental AG’s interest in acquiring local tire company Kumho Tire has increased the pressure on Kumho Asiana Group chairman, as he has to solely prepare around 1 trillion won ($8.6 billion) to reacquire the firm. Local news reports said Tuesday Continental is in talks with financial investors to participate in the bidding for the Korean tire company, citing sources from the creditors of Kumho Tire. Other global firms, including French tire firm Michelin and Chinese stat

June 8, 2016

Korean economy needs to be rebalanced

Korea faces an increasing need to ensure a balance between exports and domestic demand, which is crucial for the sustainable growth of its economy, economists say.They note changes in global economic conditions make the need more urgent but government policymakers are not yet fully up to the task.The country’s outbound shipments fell for the 17th consecutive month in May, though the pace of decline decelerated from the preceding months.The National Assembly Budget Office said in a report release

June 8, 2016

Lotte Chemical bids to acquire Axiall in U.S.

Lotte Chemical, the petrochemicals unit of South Korea’s Lotte Group, said Tuesday that it has made an offer to buy U.S.-based chemicals producer Axiall Corp. with aims to expand its business portfolio and strengthen its footing in North America.The company said it submitted its bid to take over Axiall Corp. last Saturday. No further details were disclosed, including its offering price.Axiall Corp. is an Atlanta-based chemicals firm that specializes in producing integrated chlorovinyls and vinyl

June 7, 2016

M&A deals dragging on

Merger and acquisition deals in Korea, previously expected to flourish thanks to industry-wide corporate restructurings, are actually dragging on due to little interest from potential buyers, industry sources said Tuesday.Early in January, mobile messaging app operating giant Kakao Corp.’s 1.87 trillion won ($1.57 billion) acquisition of Loen Entertainment, the top operator of online music in the local market, was expected to prompt the M&A market later this year.However, major deals that draw k

June 7, 2016

Korea pushed to balance trade with U.S.

Concerns are rising here over what has been deemed as increasing U.S. pressure on Korea to do more to alter its trade practices and business environment.The pressure, which is expected to escalate further in the lead-up to and beyond the U.S. presidential election in November, seems related mainly to the growing trade imbalance between the two sides. Korea’s trade surplus with the U.S. jumped to $28.3 billion last year from $15.2 billion in 2012, when a bilateral free trade agreement came into f

June 6, 2016

Korea’s negative exports to weigh down growth

With the global economy in a low-growth trap, Korean exports are expected to remain in negative territory, affecting the growth prospect of Asia’s fourth-largest economy this year.Data by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development showed that the growth of Korean exports, which the country relied mostly on to expand on account of weak domestic consumption, has dropped since last year.(Yonhap)Although Korea ranked fourth in the OECD after Japan, Ireland and Mexico in January last y

June 6, 2016