Seoul stocks open higher, tracking Wall Street gains

Seoul stocks started higher Friday, tracking overnight gains on Wall Street, buoyed by rising hope for progress in the protracted US-China trade dispute.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) increased 8.33 points, or 0.42 percent, to 2,013.08 in the first 15 minutes of trading. The US stock market ended sharply higher on Thursday (local time) on reports that the world's top two economies plan to hold high-level dialogue next month to deal with their yearlong trade friction

Sept. 6, 2019

KB Securities accuses Australian borrower of misusing fund assets

South Korean financial institutions KB Securities and JB Asset Management said Wednesday that an Australian borrower of their private equity real estate fund breached contracts by not carrying out investments as promised.According to them, Australian investor LBA Capital used the money from JB Australia NDIS Fund for some real estate transactions different from the original agreement. The fund was initially intended for investments in businesses related to the Australian government’s housi

Sept. 4, 2019

Mirae Asset Daewoo picked as best brokerage

South Korean financial consumers chose Mirae Asset Daewoo as the nation’s top brokerage this year, a survey by the Korea Finance Consumer Federation showed Wednesday, as it outperformed competitors on criteria related to stability.The survey, conducted biannually by a major civic group for financial consumers here, involved more than 5,000 consumers and 56 local brokerages.  The civic group also took the firms’ financial soundness and business decisions into consideration.&

Sept. 4, 2019

Korean IPO market will rebound in Oct.: report

South Korea’s lackluster initial public offering market is set to gain momentum in October, according to a local brokerage firm Wednesday, with some big names gearing up to get listed. “Companies that went public on the tech-heavy secondary Kosdaq bourse in August generated an average return rate of minus 18 percent, overall below the average return on the Kosdaq market, which shed 3 percent throughout the month,” analysts at SK Securities said. “Big firms such as Lo

Sept. 4, 2019

Korean VC firms expand investments in pet technology startups

Eyeing the fast-growing pet industry, Korean venture capital firms have been expanding their investments in developers and manufacturers of products related to pet technology this year. Pet technology refers to technologies or products designed to help owners care for their pets through apps, e-commerce and online services.  Accelerator New Paradigm Investment, a subsidiary of venture capital firm TS Investment, invested in blockchain-based pet identification app BlockPet last month, accord

Sept. 3, 2019

Seoul to implement 5G cybersecurity strategy by 2022

South Korea will push forward a comprehensive strategy to strengthen its national cybersecurity by 2022 to better cope with the emergence of the 5G hyper-connected world, the Science Ministry said Tuesday. Amid rising international tension in cyber space and greater security exposure brought about by the spread of 5G networks, Korea needs steps to protect its national interests, according to the Ministry of Science and ICT. “Foremost among the goals is protecting its key cyber infrastructu

Sept. 3, 2019

Internet-only banks’ financial soundness level falters in Q2

K bank and Kakao Bank, South Korea’s two internet-only banks, saw their financial soundness index decline in the second quarter this year due to reinforced credit risk regulations, data showed Monday.According to regulatory data by the Financial Supervisory Service, the average capital adequacy ratio of 19 commercial and state-run banks here stood at 15.34 percent as of end-June, down 0.07 percentage point from the previous quarter.The given barometer refers to the BIS ratio, established b

Sept. 2, 2019

Daily credit card spending continues to rise in H1

Daily credit card spending in South Korea continued to climb in the first half on increased online purchases, central bank data showed Monday. Credit card holders spent an average 1.9 trillion won ($1.57 billion) a day in the January-June period, up 5.7 percent from a year earlier, according to the data by the Bank of Korea.An average 41,492 won was spent per credit card transaction purchase in the first half, down 3.7 percent from a year earlier. Daily debit card spending, meanwhile, rose 6.2 p

Sept. 2, 2019

Equity fund related to Korea-Japan trade spat raises W40b

A local equity fund, in which South Korean President Moon Jae-in invested last week to show his confidence in domestic firms likely to benefit from Japan’s export curbs, has amassed more than 40 billion won ($33 million) as of Friday, fund operator NH-Amundi Asset Management said Sunday. The fund dubbed the “NH-Amundi Victorious Korea Equity Fund,” was launched on Aug. 14 with about 30 billion won initial capital. It invests in local companies that manufacture industrial equipm

Sept. 1, 2019

Seoul stocks to move in tight range this week on trade woes

South Korean stocks are expected to move in a tight range this week as investors remain wary over the US and China trade row, analysts said Sunday.On Friday, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) ended up 34.38 points, or 1.8 percent, at 1,967.79 on hopes of US-China trade talks. Last week, the KOSPI gained 1 percent. Investors will remain cautious as the world's two biggest economies prepare to hold face-to-face talks in Washington this month, according to Kim Yong-gu, an anal

Sept. 1, 2019

Hyundai Card stays ahead of curve with new premium card packaging

A year since its launch of the Green, an online application-only credit card targeting young customers, Hyundai Card has decided to take a step further and adopt a new packaging for its premium cards, the firm said Thursday.The credit card operator recently unveiled a “book-themed” package for its premium card lines – the Black, the Purple and the Red – dubbed “the Book,” with each packaging embodying the unique traits of each line.  The firm said that it

Aug. 29, 2019

Korean bank chiefs to join Moon on Myanmar trip

Chiefs of major South Korean commercial banks will join President Moon Jae-in as part of his economic delegation on the Myanmar leg of his trip to three Southeast Asian countries next week, sources said Wednesday.Heads of commercial banks here, Shinhan’s Jin Ok-dong, KB Kookmin’s Hur Yin and Industrial Bank of Korea Chairman Kim Do-jin, will accompany Moon on his visit to Myanmar scheduled for Sept. 3-5, spokespersons for the firms confirmed to The Korea Herald. Moon’s entire t

Aug. 28, 2019

FSC nominee vows to reform financial industry regulations

The nominee for the nation's top financial regulator said Monday that the government should continue to reform regulations and lower the entry barrier to the financial sector to boost the dynamic of the industry.Eun Sung-soo, President Moon Jae-in's nominee for the Financial Services Commission, made the remark in a report submitted to a parliamentary committee on national policy ahead of his confirmation hearing slated for Thursday. "Once a financial incident or scandal breaks out, su

Aug. 26, 2019

Kospi-listed firms see higher debt ratio in H1

The average debt-to-equity ratio of South Korean firms listed on the main bourse Kospi increased 4.44 percentage points from the end of last year, data released by the Korea Exchange and the Korea Listed Companies Association showed Monday, indicating higher degrees of debt financing and weakened financial health. According to the data, 636 Kospi-listed firms saw their average debt ratios inch up 4.44 percentage points to 108.75 percent from the end of last year, as of late June.  Those in

Aug. 26, 2019

BOK likely to freeze base interest rate amid Japan factor, uncertainties

With growing economic uncertainties and ongoing trade tensions with Japan, the South Korean central bank is highly likely to freeze the base interest rate at an upcoming meeting of its Monetary Policy Board, market analysts said Sunday. The Bank of Korea is slated to hold its rate-setting Monetary Policy Board meeting Friday. On July 18 the central bank cut the country’s policy rate to 1.5 percent, citing mounting external uncertainties. It has also lowered its growth outlook for

Aug. 25, 2019

Seoul stocks likely to remain subdued next week on global woes

South Korean stocks are expected to face volatile sessions next week on growing concerns of a global slowdown, analysts said Saturday.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index closed at 1,948.30, up 21.13 points, or 1.1 percent, from 1,927.17 a week earlier."We expect to see a below neutral movement of the local stock market next week when the KOSPI will be put to a test to defend the psychologically important 1,900-point threshold," Hana Investment & Securities analyst Kim Y

Aug. 24, 2019

Seoul stocks down for 2nd day ahead of Fed chief's speech

South Korean stocks closed slightly lower Friday as investors took to the sidelines amid uncertainty over the US Federal Reserve's much-awaited rate cuts and concerns over the escalating tension with Japan. The Korean won lost ground against the US dollar for a second consecutive session.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) shed 2.71 points, or 0.14 percent, to close at 1,948.30. Trading volume was slim at some 365 million shares worth 3.27 trillion won ($2.7 billion), with lo

Aug. 23, 2019

S. Korea issued $2.7b high-risk derivative products in 2018: data

South Korea’s financial institutions issued 3.2 trillion won ($2.7 billion) worth of high-risk derivatives-linked securities last year that did not guarantee the return of the investor’s original investment, according to data from the Korea Financial Investment Association released Thursday.The volume of such DLS issued increased 29 percent on-year from 2.9 trillion won in 2017 and hit a record high, feeding concerns over South Korean investors’ growing appetite for high-risk,

Aug. 22, 2019

Koreans' overseas card spending inches down in Q2

Overseas card spending by South Koreans slightly dropped from three months earlier in the second quarter, partly due to a decrease in the number of people going abroad, central bank data showed Thursday.In the April-June period, overseas card spending came to $4.67 billion, down 0.1 percent from $4.68 billion in the first quarter, according to the data from the Bank of Korea. On an annual basis, the second-quarter card spending overseas gained 0.1 percent, marking the slowest on-year growth at l

Aug. 22, 2019

Experts call for greater autonomy for financial firms in firewall regulations

Addressing growing calls in South Korea to ease firewall and outsourcing regulations, senior officials from global financial institutions on Wednesday highlighted the need to allow firms more choice in setting the scope of their data protection. Growth prospects of the financial sector have apparently been curbed by “stricter-than-necessary” legal barriers that restrict the transfer of information between certain financial parties and outsourcing regulations set by the financial auth

Aug. 21, 2019