Gold funds fare ill ahead of US rate decision

Gold funds in South Korea have fared poorly over the past months ahead of a US interest rate decision, a market tracker said Thursday.Those funds chalked up an average return of minus 11.6 percent over the three months to Tuesday, the worst performer among local investment funds worth 1 billion won ($920,000) or more, according to financial information provider FnGuide.Comparable yields were minus 5.6 percent for stock funds, minus 3.3 percent for funds investing in farm products and minus 2.7 p

Dec. 14, 2017

Korea unveils measures to tame cryptocurrencies

South Korea rolled out plans Wednesday to curb speculation on cryptocurrencies, including trade bans for minors and ways to impose taxes on investment returns, in its resolve to tame the country’s bitcoin craze without completely shutting it off. Banks in Korea that provide virtual bank accounts for cryptocurrency trades will have to verify the identification of account holders when creating new ones and prohibit minors from opening accounts, according to the plan.The regulators will also

Dec. 13, 2017

Korea decides on range of measures to curb cryptocurrency speculation

South Korea's government decided Wednesday to seek a series of measures to curb cryptocurrency speculation and crimes, including barring minors from trading cybermoney and opening investment accounts, officials said.During an emergency meeting of senior officials from related ministries, the government also decided to prohibit local financial institutions from possessing, purchasing or investing in the virtual currencies.The measures also include checking the identities of those doing bank trans

Dec. 13, 2017

Foreign stock buying slows down in Nov.

Foreign investors bought South Korean stocks at a slower pace in November, but they turned to net sellers in the bond market amid security jitters and profit-taking, the central bank said Wednesday.Foreigners purchased $450 million worth of local stocks last month, down sharply from $2.8 billion in the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea.In the bond market, they offloaded $1.41 billion in November, compared with a $650 million purchase in October.Foreigners have been low key in the So

Dec. 13, 2017

Growth pace of household lending slows down in Nov.

South Korea's household lending by banks slowed down slightly last month amid the government's toughened financial measures to cool down the real estate market, central bank data showed Wednesday.Outstanding household loans from lenders came to 762.7 trillion won ($698.4 billion) as of the end of November, according to the data by the Bank of Korea. This marks a 6.6 trillion-won increase from a month earlier, down from a 6.9 trillion-won rise in OctoberMortgages climbed 3 trillion won on-month t

Dec. 13, 2017

Fed forecast to hike rates four times in 2018

A growing number of market experts are forecasting the US central bank will raise its key interest rate four times in 2018 on an economic recovery and a tax overhaul, industry sources said Wednesday.Global investment bank Goldman Sachs has recently projected the US Federal Reserve Board to jack up the federal funds rate four times in the coming year, with JP Morgan and Jefferies making the same forecast, according to the sources.So far, six investment banking giants -- Bank of America Merrill Ly

Dec. 13, 2017

Govt. decides on range of measures to curb cryptocurrency speculation

South Korea's government decided Wednesday to roll out a series of measures to curb cryptocurrency speculation, including barring minors from opening investment accounts, officials said.During an emergency meeting of senior officials from related ministries, the government also decided to prohibit local financial institutions from possessing, purchasing or investing in the virtual currencies.The measures also include checking the indentities of those doing bank transactions related to cybermoney

Dec. 13, 2017

New 'supernote' found in S. Korea could be from North

A new high-quality counterfeit $100 bill has been found in South Korea, bank officials said Tuesday, prompting suggestions the sanctions-hit North might have resumed forging "supernotes".A team of forgery specialists at KEB Hana Bank have confirmed that a $100 note found at a Seoul branch in November was a fake which was almost impossible to distinguish from real banknotes, they said."It was the first of a new kind of supernote ever found in the world," Yi Ho-Joong, head of t

Dec. 12, 2017

S. Korea slaps fines on operator of cryptocurrency exchange for first time

South Korea's communication watchdog on Tuesday slapped fines on an operator of a cryptocurrency exchange in the country for allegedly leaking the private data of its users in its first punitive action against an administrator of such exchanges.The Korea Communications Commission decided to impose fines totaling 60 million won ($54,970) on BTC Korea.Com, an operator of Bithumb, the largest bitcoin and ethereum digital currency exchange in South Korea, for its alleged negligence in the protection

Dec. 12, 2017

[Herald Interview] 8Percent leverages power of platform

The Korea Herald is publishing a series of interviews on promising startups in the fintech industry. This is the sixth installment. — Ed.Peer-to-peer platform can be a destination not only to retail investors seeking higher yields, but also for borrowers taking loans for their business which would face more expensive options from conventional financiers, 8Percent, a South Korean P2P lending platform, said.The power of such a platform is particularly attractive to borrowers holding midrange

Dec. 12, 2017

ELS sales jump in Q3 on brisk stock markets

The issuance and redemption of equity-linked securities soared in the third quarter on the back of bullish stock markets at home and abroad, the financial regulator said Tuesday.The issuance of ELS products stood at 18.1 trillion won ($16.6 billion) in the July-September period, up 15.3 percent from the previous quarter and 64.5 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service.ELS refers to hybrid debt securities whose returns are determined by the perfor

Dec. 12, 2017

KRX to nurture 1st venture firm on Kosdaq under ‘Tesla Policy’

Information technology solutions firm Cafe24 gained Monday preliminary approval for an initial public offering on the nation‘s second-tier Kosdaq market operated by the Korea Exchange, marking the first company to be listed through the operator’s “Tesla Policy” introduced in December 2016.Cafe24, a Korean company that offers IT solutions for sellers looking to create online retailers, is expected to earn some 40 billion won ($36.6 million) through the entry into Kosdaq sl

Dec. 11, 2017

Seoul stocks end up on institutional buying

South Korean stocks rose Monday as institutions scooped up local stocks, offsetting net selling by foreigners and individuals. The Korean won rose against the US dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 7.49 points, or 0.30 percent, to close at 2,471.49. Trade volume was moderate at 237.57 million shares worth 4.536 trillion won ($4.15 billion). Institutional investors bought stocks worth 240 billion won, while foreigners and individuals sold a combined 266 billion won worth o

Dec. 11, 2017

Korea nerves fray after first-ever bitcoin futures in US

South Korea was not an exception from a bitcoin price spike Monday, as the US began trading a derivative related to the de facto key cryptocurrency on the Chicago Board Options Exchange on Sunday.  As of 1 p.m. Monday, bitcoin in South Korea traded at 19.5 million won ($17,900), up 35.8 percent compared to a day prior, according to data from local coin tracker Coinass. The coin price remained about 10 percent higher than the world average, the data also showed. The surge does not necessaril

Dec. 11, 2017

Kona I, Linxens to seek cooperation in security business

South Korean smart card maker Kona I and French smart card component maker Linxens have signed a strategic cooperation to expand business for payment and security starting next year, Kona I said Monday. The two companies are reviewing various projects, ranging from telecommunication, e-government, access control, financial services to internet of things, among others, according to Kona I. The two have already been working together, for example, with Linxens providing components such as RFID Ante

Dec. 11, 2017

Bitcoin futures rise as virtual currency hits major exchange

The first-ever bitcoin future began trading Sunday as the increasingly popular virtual currency made its debut on a major US exchange.  The futures contract that expires in January rose $340 to $15,800 in the first hour and 15 minutes of trading on the Chicago Board Options Exchange. The contract opened at $15,460, according to data from the CBOE.The CBOE futures don't involve actual bitcoin. They're securities that will track the price of bitcoin on Gemini, one of the larger bitcoin exchan

Dec. 11, 2017

Foreigners keep buying Korean stocks in Nov.

Foreign investors continued their net buying of South Korean stocks in November, with the amount reaching nearly 2 trillion won ($1.8 billion), the financial regulator said Monday.Offshore investors bought a net 1.86 trillion won last month, marking the second consecutive month of net buying, according to the Financial Supervisory Service.Net purchases by investors from the United Arab Emirates, the United States and Norway reached 1 trillion won, 900 billion won and 500 billion won, respectivel

Dec. 11, 2017

[Kosdaq Star] Seoul Semiconductor unfazed by IT sell-offs

This is the 46th in a series of articles analyzing major companies traded on the tech-heavy Kosdaq market. -- Ed.A tax cut in the US and the strong Korean won has negatively affected a tech rally on South Korean stock markets in the past couple of weeks. The Kosdaq-listed light-emitting diode maker Seoul Semiconductor was no exception, as its share price hit a record 33,550 won on Nov. 27, but backtracked to 28,250 won on Friday, falling 13.1 percent over the past two weeks.But some analysts pai

Dec. 10, 2017

Korea's household debt-to-GDP rises 2nd-fastest: BIS

South Korea’s household debt-to-gross domestic product increased at the second-fastest rate in the world on-year as of first half of this year, reports said Sunday, quoting data from Bank for International Settlement. According to survey of 43 countries conducted by BIS, Korea‘s ratio of total household credit-to-GDP came to 93.8 percent as of the second quarter of 2017, up 4.3 percentage points year-on-year. The data by Basel-based financial institution was released on Dec. 3.T

Dec. 10, 2017

Foreign investors sold 2.12 tln won worth of KOSPI shares in 2 weeks

Foreign investors offloaded 2.12 trillion won ($1.93 billion) worth of shares traded on South Korea's main bourse in the last two weeks, the Korea Exchange said Sunday.The stock market operator said foreigners sold off many more shares than they bought in the 10 trading days starting from Nov.27 through Friday. The selling of shares on the Korea Composite Stock Price Index outpaced the buying of 1.72 trillion won worth of stocks by local institutional investors.In the past two weeks, foreign inv

Dec. 10, 2017