S. Korea raises cap on bank's currency forward positions

  South Korea said Wednesday it will raise the cap on bank's currency forward positions to inject more dollars into the currency market, the latest follow-up to the market stabilization measures. The cap for local banks will be revised up to 50 percent from the previous 40 percent, with that for foreign banks operating in the country to be set at 250 percent, up from the previous 200 percent, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance. The measure will take effect Thursday, the min

March 18, 2020

NongHyup Financial nominates VP as new CEO for bank unit

NongHyup Financial Group’s committee for nominating executive members announced Tuesday that it has recommended incumbent Vice President Son Byung-hwan as the sole candidate for the new CEO post of its bank subsidiary.  The announcement came after the bank’s former CEO Lee Dae-hoon offered to resign earlier this month.  Son, 58, joined the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation in 1990 and has led the bank’s digital transformation by implementing an open ap

March 17, 2020

Seoul markets sink as monetary easing fails to quell virus fears

South Korean stocks declined again Tuesday as surprise monetary policies around the globe failed to soothe market jitters over the economic fallout from the new coronavirus pandemic. The Korean won also continued to sink against the US dollar. The benchmark Kospi opened sharply low at 1,640.84 -- down 74.02 points, or 4.32 percent, from the previous session. The index even plummeted to 1,637.88 points in early morning, then inched up to close at 1,672.44. Foreign investors offloaded a net 1.

March 17, 2020

Interest rates of savings products, mortgages to drop on BOK’s rate cut

South Korean banks are expected to start lowering interest rates tied to fixed deposit products and mortgages on Tuesday amid the Bank of Korea’s decision to slash its benchmark interest rate to a record low of 0.75 percent. The rate affects what banks pay to borrow money overnight, affecting the level of interest rates of products that they offer to customers. At the moment, the most popular and main fixed deposit products are those with a tenure of one year. Such products designed a

March 17, 2020

Kakao Bank to be led by sole CEO

South Korea’s leading online-only bank Kakao Bank announced Tuesday that Yoon Ho-young, who headed the bank as co-CEO, will now serve as the company’s sole chief. The online bank has been managed by Yoon and former co-CEO Lee Yong-woo -- who were respectively from mobile messenger firm Kakao and investment company Korea Investment & Securities. The two companies are major shareholders of the bank. Since Lee left the company in January to run for parliamentary election sched

March 17, 2020

Eximbank donates W250m to virus-hit Daegu

The state-run Export-Import Bank of Korea has donated 250 million won ($201,000) to nonprofit groups to support small business owners and senior residents living in Daegu, the southeastern city hit hardest by the novel coronavirus outbreak. Korea Eximbank has donated 100 million won to the comprehensive welfare center for the elderly staying at home alone, outsourced by the Ministry of Health and Welfare. The center will purchase food from traditional markets in Daegu and deliver them to the

March 17, 2020

[Market Close-up] Have tech shares hit rock-bottom?

With stock prices of major tech firms plummeting, retail investors think it is a big opportunity to profit, given the ultralow interest rates. Past experience of the local stock market’s dramatic rebound -- led by the memory chip market boom -- and pervasive advisory reports by local analysts, led many individual investors to jump on the bandwagon. The stock prices are really appealing now, but is it worth it? According to the stock market operator Korea Exchange (KRX), the share pric

March 17, 2020

[News Analysis] Housing market boom may snap under COVID-19

In addition to Moon Jae-in government’s policy actions so far to curb housing prices, the escalating fallout of COVID-19 may daunt South Korea’s overheated real estate market, observers noted Monday. The key question is whether the impact of the pandemic will escalate to a global financial crisis. Last week, the Bank of Korea pointed out that COVID-19 has been exerting a more direct and drastic impact on the stock market, compared to past major epidemics. Throughout the outbre

March 16, 2020

Foreign investors beef up shareholder activism with legal clarity

South Korea introduced a law in February to support a new form of activism by “general” equity investors, enabling minority shareholders to have a say in corporate decisions. The revision of the Capital Markets Act has offered investors legal clarity in their move to boost shareholder value and adhere to stewardship codes. So far, four foreign investors have declared they are “general” investors in eight listed companies,” so that they can be more actively engage

March 16, 2020

Bandi & Luni’s bookstore chain up for sale

The owners of the Seoul Book Center -- operator of South Korea’s third-largest bookstore chain, Bandi & Luni’s -- are looking to put their stake in the company up for sale through deal manager eBest Investment & Securities, the brokerage house said Monday. Founded in 1988, the Seoul Book Center operates 10 bookstores and stationery stores across the country, as well as an online bookstore. The deal is meant to give its owners, including CEO Kim Dong-kook and his father, Ki

March 16, 2020

Mirae Asset invests in US-based Impossible Foods

South Korea’s Mirae Asset Financial Group has invested some $150 million in Impossible Foods, a US-based startup that produces meat alternatives, according to reports Monday. Mirae Asset, along with several financial investors, participated in the latest funding round,” an investment banking source was quoted as saying by Financial News. “Mirae Asset was the only Korean firm and appears to be paying attention to the fast-growing meat alternative market.” Founded in 2

March 16, 2020

Coronavirus wipes out more than $16tr from global stock markets

The fast-spreading novel coronavirus outbreak has erased $16.7 trillion market capitalization in global stock markets, according to news reports Sunday. The overall market cap in 86 nations dropped 18.7 percent, from $89. 2 trillion on Jan. 20 to $72.5 trillion on March 12, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The market cap loss during the volatile past few weeks is approximately tenfold that of South Korea’s nominal gross domestic product, standing at $1.6 trillion in 2019. Th

March 15, 2020

Shinhan Bank’s call center workers start remote working

Shinhan Bank said Sunday that its call center employees will start remote working as part of its preventive measures against the spread of the new coronavirus.  A total of 150 call center employees working regular hours of 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. will start working from home starting Monday. The list, however excludes those who deal with telecommunications fraud and sign language. The decision came amid growing concerns over mass transmission of the virus at call centers. Earlier, nearly 102

March 15, 2020

Bank deposits surge amid market volatility fears

South Korean banks are seeing a surge in deposits, reflecting investors’ concerns amid growing uncertainties in the capital market, according to latest data Sunday. Nearly 36 trillion won ($30 billion) flowed into bank deposits last month -- the largest in five years -- Bank of Korea data showed.  According to the central bank, the combined bank deposits came to nearly 1770.1 trillion won, up 35.9 trillion won from a month earlier, the biggest monthly change since Dec. 2014

March 15, 2020

[Herald Interview] ‘Korea’s impact investors should seek cross-border deals’

South Korea was the first country in East Asia to introduce a legal definition for impact investment under the Promotion of Social Enterprises Act in 2007, which paved the way for a mature ecosystem. Impact investments aim to generate specific beneficial social or environmental effects in addition to financial gains -- actively seeking to make a positive impact, for example, by investing in nonprofits that benefit the community or in clean-technology enterprises that benefit the environment.

March 15, 2020

S. Korea temporarily bans stock short selling for 6 months

South Korea on Friday announced a temporary ban on stock short selling for six months amid a market rout triggered by the outbreak of the new coronavirus. The Financial Services Commission said the six-month ban will affect all listed firms, starting from Monday. FSC Chairman Eun Sung-soo said the duration of the ban may be extended, or even shortened, depending on future conditions. "The ban on short selling may be lifted (before six months) when and if the market becomes stabilized,&

March 13, 2020

Busan-based VC to control mask inventory app operator Carelabs

Busan-based venture capital Maple Investment Partners has been selected as the preferred bidder to become the largest stakeholder of Carelabs, a South Korean company listed on the development stock bourse Kosdaq, a regulatory filing showed Friday. Carelabs operates a mobile app Gooddoc, which allows users to track the nearest hospitals and drugstores. The app began to feature real-time face mask inventory tracking function earlier in March. Facing a mounting fallout of COVID-19 here and the c

March 13, 2020

KRX activates ‘circuit breaker’ on Kospi, Kosdaq markets

South Korea’s stock market dived more than 8 percent during Friday morning trading, triggering the stock exchange to temporarily halt trading on both the country’s main bourse Kospi and tech-heavy Kosdaq market. It is the first time in Seoul stock market to activate circuit breakers in both Kospi and Kosdaq market in one trading session. The Korea Exchange activated the circuit breaker to suspend the Kospi’s operation for 20 minutes around 10:43 a.m., as the index plumm

March 13, 2020

Asian stocks nosedive, extending global rout on recession fears

TOKYO (AFP) -- Asian markets opened in freefall on Friday, extending a global rout that saw bourses experience their worst day in decades on fears of a recession caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei index nosedived more than seven percent shortly after the open, with markets around the region plummeting after a historically bad trading day in the US and Europe. The Nikkei 225 index dropped 7.12 percent or 1,322.15 points to 17,237.48 in early trade, while the broader T

March 13, 2020

Seoul stock market crashes 6% as virus panic deepens

South Korea's stock market trading was halted Friday minutes after the opening bell due to sharp falls as panic sell-offs sparked by an overnight plunge on Wall Street amid growing concerns over the new coronavirus' economic fallout around the globe. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index surrendered 107.82 points, or 5.87 percent, to 1,726.51 as of 9:30 a.m. The local stock market trading was halted after the sharp plunge. The benchmark index dipped by more than 8 percent to as low

March 13, 2020