Hana partners with Hyundai, Kia for connected car financial services

South Korea’s Hana Bank on Monday said it has teamed up with the nation’s top automakers Hyundai Motor and Kia alongside fintech startup Finda to develop financial services and products tied to connected car technologies. A connected car refers to a car equipped with internet access, usually a wireless local area network. This allows the car to share internet access and data with other devices inside and outside the vehicle. Though details are currently in the works, Hana plans to

Oct. 18, 2021

[Herald Interview] Rethinking emissions as investing opportunities

The world has been witnessing deadly catastrophic events like wildfires and heat waves over the past couple of years, and climate change is considered a major culprit behind them. Such extreme weather events show no signs of abating despite decreased greenhouse gas emissions due to COVID-19 pandemic since last year, which signals that climate change is a problem of the present, not a problem of the future. Addressing the urgency of the matter, Je Hyun-joo, managing partner at impact investment

Oct. 18, 2021

Seoul stocks open lower on profit-taking

South Korean stocks opened lower Monday as investors attempted to cash in gains from the key stock index's three-day advance. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) fell 22.9 points, or 0.76 percent, to 2,992.16 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. The Kospi got off to a lackluster start amid sell-offs in most sectors. In Seoul, Samsung Electronics lost 0.86 percent to 69,500 won, and No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix retreated 1.42 percent to 97,000 won. Top automaker Hyundai

Oct. 18, 2021

Boxed-in Kospi leads to surge in forced liquidations

As South Korea’s benchmark Kospi plunged below 3,000 points last week for the first time in nearly seven months, the daily volume of forced selling of stocks by local brokerages reached a 14-year high. The daily average amount of forced liquidations marked 26.5 billion won ($22.4 million) from Oct. 1 to Thursday, according to data compiled by the Korea Financial Investment Association. It marked the highest level since April 2007, when the daily average volume came to 29 billion won. The

Oct. 17, 2021

Tightened credit lending continues despite eased rules on housing loans

South Korea‘s major banks are set to loosen control on extension of “jeonse” loans for homes, but their tightened grip over personal credit loans will continue under pressure from financial authorities, industry sources said Sunday. Jeonse is a housing lease system unique to Korea whereby tenants pay a lump-sum deposit instead of monthly rent on a two-year contract. NH NongHyup Bank, which in August decided to temporarily stop offering jeonse loans until Nov. 30, will resume

Oct. 17, 2021

Homegrown private equity firm STIC Investments to go public in December

South Korean private equity firm STIC Investments is poised to carry out a backdoor listing to start trading on the domestic stock market in December, a filing showed Sunday.  Following the move, STIC Investments will become the first Seoul-based private equity investment manager to be listed in three years. Seoul is home to high-profile buyout powerhouses including MBK Partners, Hahn & Co. and IMM Private Equity -- none of which are listed on the stock market. According to the f

Oct. 17, 2021

Samsung Electronics shares reenter 70,000 won range

South Korea’s market bellwether Samsung Electronics increased 1 percent to 70,100 won ($59.28) on Friday, after remaining below the sensitive threshold for four consecutive days. The benchmark Kospi climbed 0.88 percent to 3,015.16 points in the same day. Samsung Electronics, Korea’s largest company by market cap, has the biggest group of retail investors -- some 4.54 million -- as of the end of June. Samsung’s stock prices soared to as high as 91,000 won on Jan. 11 but li

Oct. 15, 2021

KDB’s W10tr investment in fossil fuels contradicts green pledge: lawmaker

The state-run Korea Development Bank extended or guaranteed loans worth a combined 10.3 trillion won ($8.7 billion) for fossil fuel projects in the last decade, data showed Friday, reflecting growing concerns about greenwashing in the nation’s financial sector. From 2011 to 2020, the KDB extended loans worth a total of 6.9 trillion won and guaranteed a further 3.3 trillion won worth of loans for natural gas or oil projects, data submitted by the state-run bank to ruling Democratic Party

Oct. 15, 2021

Nonghyup chairman urges embrace of metaverse

Nonghyup Financial Group Chairman Son Byung-hwan on Friday highlighted the group’s efforts to incorporate the metaverse into its businesses. “Many experts predict that the era of the metaverse is what will come next after this smartphone era,” Son said, urging the company’s executives to “study the possibility of commercialization with interest in the metaverse.” In accordance with Son’s vision, the group said it plans to set up a metaverse task force

Oct. 15, 2021

Samsung Electronics shares reenter 70,000 won range

South Korea’s market bellwether Samsung Electronics increased 1.3 percent to 70,300 won ($59.46) during Friday morning trade, ending a price slide that lasted four consecutive days. The benchmark Kospi climbed 0.89 percent to 3,015.14 points. Samsung Electronics, the largest company in the nation by market cap, has the biggest group of retail investors, who amassed 2.78 trillion won worth of its shares in the 10 trading days ending Wednesday. Friday’s increase followed an indust

Oct. 15, 2021

Mamamoo’s agency to go public in November

Rainbow Bridge World, the South Korean entertainment agency behind all-female band Mamamoo, said Friday that it has filed a registration statement with the country’s financial watchdog and will go public on the nation’s secondary bourse, Kosdaq, in November. According to the statement, the agency aims to issue 1.25 million shares. It plans to offer new stocks for public subscription at a price between 18,700 won ($15.80) and 21,400 won a share. The book-building process, where an u

Oct. 15, 2021

Seoul stocks open higher on US gains

South Korean stocks opened higher Friday, tracking overnight advances on Wall Street, with tech shares leading the market gains. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 27.4 points, or 0.92 percent, to 3,016.04 in the first 15 minutes of trading. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite added 1.73 percent to 14,823 points amid hopes of strong corporate earnings in the third quarter, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 1.56 percent to 34,913 points. In Seoul, market bell

Oct. 15, 2021

Yanolja to acquire 70% stake in Interpark's e-commerce businesses

Yanolja Co., a leading South Korean travel platform operator, said Thursday that it signed an agreement to buy a 70 percent stake in e-commerce businesses of Interpark Corp. for 294 billion won (US$248 million). 　Yanolja said its move to acquire Interpark‘s travel, performing arts, shopping and book businesses is intended to make inroads into the global travel market dominated by foreign platform companies. 　“The two companies will cooperate to strengthen the competitiveness and

Oct. 14, 2021

Seoul stocks jump on stabilizing currency market, move to ease supply bottleneck

South Korean stocks advanced for a second straight session Thursday, as investors were relieved by the stable currency rate and Washington's move to ease supply chain disruptions. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) added 44.23 points, or 1.5 percent, to close at 2,988.64 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 607 million shares worth some 11.9 trillion won ($10 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 745 to 130. Foreigne

Oct. 14, 2021

[Exclusive] Alceon raises Korean capital for debt strategies in Australia

Sydney-based investment manager Alceon has raised a combined 55 billion won ($46.3 million) of capital from a South Korean institutional investor for its nonbank loan strategies designed to finance Australian real estate development projects. Alceon‘s senior debt vehicle, named Alceon Australian Real Estate Corporate Senior Loan Fund, received capital from Korean allocator ABL Life Insurance from last year until September, bringing its fund under management to A$383 million ($283 million)

Oct. 14, 2021

BOK to join move for setting global standards for stablecoin

South Korea’s central bank said Thursday it has decided to join a global movement of financial regulators to set up standards for stablecoins, saying it would adopt the rules to the local market once they are introduced. Stablecoins are a form of cryptocurrency designed to have a stable value tied to traditional government-backed currencies, or to a commodity such as gold, to dodge the volatilities that bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have. The Bank of Korea’s announcement com

Oct. 14, 2021

JPMorgan expands commercial banking in South Korea

Global investment bank JPMorgan said Thursday it has decided to expand its commercial banking business in South Korea by launching a new team focused on financing midcap companies. The banking giant has appointed Kim Min-sik, former head of the global corporate division at Standard Chartered Bank Korea, to lead its newly established corporate client banking & specialized industries team. In Korea, businesses with total assets between 500 billion won ($421.1 million) and 10 trillion w

Oct. 14, 2021

Seoul stocks open higher on stabilizing currency market

South Korean stocks opened higher Thursday, as investors were relieved by the stable currency rate. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 25.39 points, or 0.86 percent, to 2,969.8 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Stocks came off to a bullish start, as the Korean won advanced against the US dollar, after depreciating sharply against the greenback over the past few days. The local currency was trading at 1,188.25 won against the US dollar, up 5.55 won from the previous

Oct. 14, 2021

S. Korea’s first metaverse-themed ETFs listed

Four metaverse-themed exchange-traded funds went listed for the first time on the country’s stock markets on Wednesday, betting on growing interest in the new IT platform. The four ETFs are KB Asset Management’s KBSTAR iSelect Metaverse, NH Amundi Asset Management’s Hanaro Fn K-Metaverse MZ, Mirae Asset Global Investment’s Tiger Fn Metaverse, and Samsung Asset Management’s KODEX K-Metaverse Active. Samsung Asset’s ETF product is an actively managed fund,

Oct. 13, 2021

Seoul stocks rebound on tech, auto gains

South Korean stocks advanced nearly 1 percent Wednesday as investors sought to buy oversold stocks such as tech and auto shares after a sharp plunge the previous session. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) added 28.03 points, or 0.96 percent, to close at 2,944.41 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 743 million shares worth some 12.1 trillion won ($10.1 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 700 to 168. Foreigners sol

Oct. 13, 2021