Banking groups signal hope of launching internet-only banks

South Korean banking groups have approached the financial authorities in hopes of launching their own internet-only lenders, industry insiders said Tuesday, amid the growing popularity of platforms such as Kakao Bank. The Korea Federation of Banks, a body that represents commercial lenders here, recently received a joint message from the banking groups, including the five major ones -- KB, Shinhan, Hana, Woori and NH -- conveying their plans to foray into the internet-only banking business, if

April 6, 2021

KCGS downgrades ESG scores of Samsung, SKT, and LGD

The Korea Corporate Governance Service, a nonprofit organization that offers environmental, social and governance evaluations for companies, said Tuesday that it had downgraded the ESG ratings of nine companies, including Samsung Electronics, SK Telecom and LG Display. Samsung was given an overall rating of B+, down from the previous score of A. The company scored a B in the governance category after Samsung Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong received a 30-month jail sentence in January for bribery a

April 6, 2021

Stable US Treasury yields, market rallies support scenario of Kospi rebound in Q2

South Korea’s benchmark Kospi could log a fresh record high in the second quarter, a local analyst suggested Tuesday, citing stable US Treasury yields and market rallies on Wall Street as fundamentals. KB Securities analyst Lee Eun-taek wrote in a report that the rise in value of the Korean won against the US dollar is also another positive factor to foreigners’ net purchases in the local stock market. “Kospi is expected to continue its upward movement in the middle of the se

April 6, 2021

NH Investment ‘fully responsible’ for W300b Optimus misselling: FSS

South Korea’s financial watchdog said Tuesday that it holds NH Investment & Securities, the nation’s second-largest brokerage firm by net assets, entirely accountable for the misselling practices associated with the Optimus Asset Management alleged hedge fund fraud. The Financial Supervisory Service ordered NH Investment to compensate end-investors for losses of some 300 billion won ($267 million) incurred in 326 cases they brought to the Financial Dispute Conciliation Committe

April 6, 2021

Seoul’s hotel transactions, occupancy shrink by half

Hotel transaction volume in South Korea’s capital city of Seoul fell sharply in 2020 as travel restrictions stemming from the coronavirus pandemic sent shock waves through the accommodation industry, data showed Tuesday. The 22 hotel transactions that closed in Seoul last year amounted to 701.8 billion won ($624.8 million), down 53 percent from a year prior, according to data from real estate services firm GenstarMate. In the meantime Seoul’s hotel occupancy rate, a key indicator

April 6, 2021

S. Korean stocks open higher on Wall Street gains

South Korean stocks opened higher Tuesday, tracking overnight gains on Wall Street on the back of strong US jobs data. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) added 12.36 points, or 0.40 percent, to reach 3,133.19 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. The strong start followed overnight gains on Wall Street, which got a boost from better-than-expected US jobs data released Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.13 percent, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite adde

April 6, 2021

Brokerages’ shares rise on investments in emerging firms

Shares in local brokerages have risen over the past few days as their investments in rising fintech companies have gained attention from investors. 　 Shares in Hanwha Investment and Securities rose 61 percent from Wednesday, following local media reports that Dunamu, the operator of the country’s largest cryptocurrency exchange Upbit, is mulling a New York Stock Exchange listing. The IPO rumor boosted the investment arm of Hanwha, which owns 6.15 percent or 2.07 million shares in Dunamu,

April 5, 2021

Hanjin KAL stocks plunge as hostile takeover bid comes to standstill

Shares of Hanjin KAL plunged Monday as a hostile takeover bid of an activist investor group came to a standstill the week prior. Hanjin KAL, the holding company of the Hanjin conglomerate that controls flag carrier Korean Air Lines, dipped 7.8 percent on the Korean bourse at Monday’s close, as nearly 300 billion won ($266 million) in market cap evaporated within a single day. Hanjin KAL‘s share price hit a 52-week low Monday morning, trading as low as 51,400 won apiece. This com

April 5, 2021

FSC chief says HAAH still considering in SsangYong Motor

Financial Services Commission Chairman Eun Sung-soo said Monday that SsangYong Motor’s likely investor, US automotive distributor HAAH Automotive, asked the government to give more time before it makes a decision on whether to submit a binding offer to invest in the cash-strapped commercial vehicle maker. “We have not yet received an investment proposal from HAAH Automotive, but it doesn‘t mean the company officially declined to salvage SsangYong. The company said it needs m

April 5, 2021

Concerns rise as South Korea’s household debt nears GDP

Household debt in South Korea surged to nearly 100 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product, raising concerns that the central bank’s rate hikes may be placing a heavy burden on the household sector, a report showed Monday. The proportion of Korea’s household debt to its GDP -- the market value of all final goods and services produced in an economy during a certain period -- came to 98.6 percent at the end of June last year, according to the report from the Korea Inst

April 5, 2021

Seoul stocks up for 3rd day on US infrastructure plan

South Korean stocks advanced for the third straight session on Monday as investors weigh the $2.25 trillion infrastructure proposal in the United States. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. After choppy trading, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 8.03 points, or 0.26 percent, to close at 3,120.83 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 1.1 billion shares worth some 12.8 trillion won ($11.3 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 511 to 343. Foreigners

April 5, 2021

Hyundai Card rolls out credit card with plentiful benefits

South Korean credit card issuer Hyundai Card has launched new credit cards which offer what the company says "ultimate rewards," for customers. The new credit cards under the Hyundai Card Z brand is the latest edition of the company’s credit card series named with alphabet letters. The new cards named after the last letter of the English alphabet comes with a range of cream-of-the-crop benefits, such as discounts at online streaming services, like Netflix, and retail ma

April 5, 2021

Big tech may outsmart banks in data-driven credit scoring: report

With abundant data and digital analytics tools, big tech firms could conduct a more accurate assessment of a company‘s creditworthiness than conventional banks, giving them the upper hand in providing lending services in terms of allocative efficiency, a think tank said Monday. Amid accelerating digitization in the financial industry, big tech firms are capitalizing on their platforms and growing user databases to expand their financial services from basic payment system to financial in

April 5, 2021

Daily transactions of internet banking up 21% last year amid pandemic

Daily transactions of internet banking services in South Korea rose 20.6 percent last year as customers preferred using financial services in a non-contact manner amid the pandemic, central bank data showed Monday. The value of daily transactions via online banking, including mobile banking, reached 58.7 trillion won ($52 billion) last year, compared with 48.6 trillion won the previous year, according to the data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). The daily use of online banking services reached 13

April 5, 2021

Seoul stocks open lower on doubts over US infrastructure project

South Korean stocks opened lower Monday as investors speculate on a US congressional pushback over the massive size of the $2.25 trillion infrastructure proposal in the United States. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 4.71 points, or 0.15 percent, to 3,108.09 points in the first 18 minutes of trading. In Seoul, top cap Samsung Electronics edged up 0.24 percent, and No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix advanced 0.71 percent. Top automaker Hyundai Motor lost 0.21 percent, and i

April 5, 2021

Export-Import bank to offer Hyundai Motor W3tr for future mobility development

The Export-Import Bank of Korea has signed an agreement with Hyundai Motor to provide financial support to the automaker vying with global rivals to take the lead in future vehicle markets.　 Under the memorandum of understanding inked on Thursday, the state-run policy lender will offer the automaker some 3 trillion won ($2.65 billion) until 2023 for its projects involving its plan to make the transition to become a smart mobility solution provider that manufactures zero-emission and driverless

April 4, 2021

Nearly one-third of S. Korean investors are overseas stock traders

As the number of South Koreans investing in the local stock market nears 10 million, about one-third of those investors are also overseas stock traders, according to local securities firms Sunday. The recent data, compiled by 10 major brokerages here including Mirae Asset Securities and Kiwoom Securities, showed that the number of active equity accounts for overseas stock trading was 3.21 million as of March. The number of trading accounts at local investment firms came to 435,000 at the end

April 4, 2021

S. Korea’s W200b New Deal policy fund sees fast sales

Retail investors have snapped up almost all of a 137 billion-won ($121 million) fund aimed at promoting government-led projects under the Korean New Deal as of Sunday, as individuals seek to take advantage of the state policy fund to use as a financial cushion against losses. The 137 billion won was earmarked for retail investors out of a larger 200 million-won fund. The 137 billion won was parceled and sold via five major commercial banks on Thursday. The ones offered by the commercial lender

April 4, 2021

South Korea’s stock market cap increases 2.7% in Q1

The valuation of the South Korean stock market has risen 2.7 percent in the first quarter of this year from the end of last year, falling behind other global stock markets that logged an over 4 percent gain, according to Bloomberg data Sunday. Buttressed by ample liquidity, the combined market cap of 86 nations came to some $107.86 trillion as of Wednesday, up 4.5 percent from $103.23 trillion marked at the end of last year. The market size of global stock markets fluctuated widely in the Janu

April 4, 2021

Watchdog vows to ramp up ESG oversight of Korean financial firms

Yoon Suk-heun, chief of South Korea‘s financial watchdog, pledged on Friday to beef up its oversight to prevent a spillover of risks associated with environmental, social and governance factors in the Korean finance industry. In a keynote speech at a seminar held in Seoul on Friday, the Financial Supervisory Service governor pledged to shape up a framework to gauge climate risks that could undermine the health of financial companies, in the nation where such standardized framework is pra

April 2, 2021