Moon appointed IBK CEO vows corporate innovation amid stiff union resistance

The state-run Industrial Bank of Korea’s new CEO Yoon Jong-won on Tuesday chaired his first official board meeting, gesturing to carry through his leadership despite the labor union’s resistance.Meanwhile, unionists continued their stage-in protest, vowing to deter what they saw as excessive government meddling in the organization’s personnel affairs. Yoon, a former senior presidential secretary for economic affairs, ordered the launch of a new task force focused on corporate i

Jan. 14, 2020

Investors turn to overseas funds amid slow growth, low interest rate

An increasing number of South Korean investors are picking foreign investment funds, seeking alternative profits amid slow growth and low interest rates here, data showed Tuesday.The total amount invested in FIFs tallied 183.7 trillion won ($159.3 billion) as of last year, accounting for 28.3 percent of total fund deposits, according to the Korea Financial Investment Association.Of them, private equity funds accounted for 79.5 percent with 146 trillion won, while public funds stood at 20.5 perce

Jan. 14, 2020

NH-Amundi, SSIAM partner to develop products tracking Vietnam stock indexes

Seoul-based NH-Amundi Asset Management and Ho Chi Minh City-based SSI Asset Management have agreed to partner to develop products that track benchmark indexes in the Vietnamese stock market, according to NH-Amundi on Tuesday.On Monday, they signed a memorandum of understanding guaranteeing an exclusive partnership to launch new financial instruments that track indexes of blue-chip companies, including the VN50 listed on the Hanoi Stock Exchange and VN30 that seeks listing on the Ho Chi Minh Stoc

Jan. 14, 2020

Foreign investors turn net buyers of stocks, continue bond pullout

Foreign investors turned net buyers in the South Korean stocks in December, after snapping a four-month streak of selling. However, they continued their net outflow of investment in the local fixed-income market for a third consecutive month, the financial watchdog said Monday.Foreign investors net-bought 810 billion won ($699.6 million) worth of local listed stocks during the month -- 350 billion won on Seoul’s benchmark Kospi and 460 billion won on the tech-focused secondary Kosdaq -- ac

Jan. 13, 2020

Samsung, SK hynix hit historic highs on earnings recovery hopes

South Korea's two largest chipmakers -- Samsung Electronics Co. and SK hynix Inc. -- finished at all-time highs on Monday on expectations that the chipmaking sector is recovering after bottoming out in the fourth quarter of last year.Stocks in Samsung Electronics, the world's largest memory chipmaker, closed at a record-high of 60,000 won ($51.88), up 0.84 percent from the previous session's close. SK hynix Inc., the world's second-largest DRAM maker, finished at 100,500 won, up 1.62 percent fro

Jan. 13, 2020

Goldman Sachs, SK to jointly invest W50b in cold warehouse operator

Global investment bank Goldman Sachs and SK Holdings said Monday they plan to jointly invest 50 billion won ($43.3 million) in Belstar Superfreeze, a South Korean entity that develops and operates cold warehouses powered by liquefied natural gas.Belstar in the first tranche will raise 25 billion won funding each from Goldman Sachs and the holding company of conglomerate SK Group. The two investors may opt to invest an additional 12.5 billion won each within a year. Now controlled by US

Jan. 13, 2020

K-pop stocks likely to gain traction on improved Seoul-Beijing ties: analysts

Big-cap K-pop stocks are projected to rally again this year given positive Seoul-Beijing relations and the return of some big players, analysts here said Monday.Shares of the three biggest entertainment agencies in South Korea -- YG, S.M. and JYP -- were volatile in 2019, weighed down by a sex-bribery scandal involving Seungri, former member of K-pop boy band Big Bang. The scandal broke out early last year leading to a turmoil in the industry. Of the three, YG Entertainment is expected to see th

Jan. 13, 2020

[Exclusive] Gender issues cost Deloitte Consulting place in Asia-Pacific unit: sources

Deloitte Consulting Korea has failed to join Deloitte Asia Pacific, a single business entity that combines the operations of the global consulting firm in the region, partly due to gender disparity at its Seoul office, sources told The Korea Herald.Formed in September 2018, the firm’s Asia-Pacific umbrella combines operations in China, Japan, Southeast Asia and Australia as a unified business unit. India is expected to join the alliance this year, while Korea is still excluded from th

Jan. 13, 2020

Visa Korea to launch new services amid changing fintech landscape

Visa Korea on Monday announced plans to launch new services this year, in an effort to grow its presence in the emerging segments of big data and contactless payment solutions.To help its corporate clients strengthen their marketing strategies, Visa Korea said it would provide marketing solutions based on big data analytics technology for a more diverse range of businesses. The global payment giant currently has a team of 500 data analysts and consultants who offer insights into data-based marke

Jan. 13, 2020

Korean realty investments in Europe jump 122%

South Korean investments in European commercial real estate assets in 2019 jumped 122 percent on-year to 12.5 billion euros ($13.9 billion), on the back of Korean investors’ foreign exchange hedging against the euro and lower borrowing costs, data showed Monday.The acquisition binge also signals Korean investors’ need to digest the earlier deals in the region, according to global real estate consultancy Savills.By countries, France boasted the largest volume of Korean investments at

Jan. 13, 2020

Kakao Bank co-CEO joins ruling party, forfeits W2.6b stock option

Lee Yong-woo, co-chief executive of South Korea’s largest neobank Kakao Bank, said Sunday he had agreed to join the ruling Democratic Party in an apparent bid to run in the general elections here in April.The accompanied move to quit the mobile-only lender comes at the cost of his stock option -- 520,000 shares in the commercial lender that may be converted to at least 2.6 billion won ($2.2 million) starting March 2021.  “I’m confident that the Moon Jae-in administration&r

Jan. 12, 2020

Lime Asset fund fiasco intensifies amid snowballing petitions, imminent lawsuit

The fiasco surrounding Lime Asset Management is likely to escalate further as investors have filed related complaints and banks which sold its fund options are gearing up to file a lawsuit.From end-October to Friday, the Financial Supervisory Service received over 100 investor petitions concerning the disputed fund sales by Lime Asset Management, according to the financial watchdog Sunday.“We are currently looking into individual cases,” said an official of the FSS. “Upon every

Jan. 12, 2020

Hanjin KAL proxy fight looms as new investor comes to light

Hanjin KAL, the holding company of South Korea’s No. 1 air carrier Korean Air, is likely to face a proxy fight over its management, after it welcomed affiliates of builder Bando Group as major stakeholders.Eyes are fixed on whether Bando will act in favor of either of late Hanjin Chairman Cho Yang-ho’s scions in the shareholders meeting in March.Incumbent Chairman Cho Won-tae’s tenure is set to expire by March 2020. The successor’s reappointment appears to be facing uncer

Jan. 12, 2020

Green Cross eyes W200b acquisition of EMR software vendor

A consortium led by South Korean biopharmaceutical company Green Cross has been selected as the preferred bidder for the majority stake sale of UBCare, the nation’s No. 1 electronic medical records system vendor. The investor group, composed of Green Cross and Synaptic Investment, is looking to buy some 52 percent stake in UBCare from venture capital firms STIC Investment and Kakao Investment, according to investment banking sources on Friday. The shares are roughly valued at 200 billion w

Jan. 12, 2020

Samsung, SK hynix stocks to rally on chip market recovery: analysts

Shares of Samsung Electronics and SK hynix -- South Korea’s largest chipmakers -- which hit record highs last week should gain momentum this year on the back of the global semiconductor market’s recovery, according to analysts. Samsung shares closed at 59,500 won ($51.20) Friday, outperforming the previous all-time high of 58,600 won the previous day.Meanwhile, its crosstown rival SK hynix shed 0.1 percent from the previous trading to close at 98,900 won, failing to extend its rally

Jan. 12, 2020

Seoul shares to trade higher on eased Mideast tension

South Korean stocks are expected to trade higher next week on eased concerns over a conflict between the United States and Iran, analysts said Saturday.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index closed at 2,206.39 points on Friday, up 1.37 percent from a week earlier.Earlier this week, Seoul shares lost ground sharply after Qassem Soleimani, the head of Iran's elite Quds Force, was killed in a US drone strike, which led to a hike in global oil prices. Although South Korean shares rebounded

Jan. 11, 2020

Investors accuse Lime, Shinhan, Woori of fraud after hedge fund debacle

Three individual investors have filed criminal complaints against representatives of Lime Asset Management, Shinhan Investment and Woori Bank, accusing them of fraud and capital market law violations in the sale of private equity funds, the investors’ legal representatives said Friday.Local law firm Hannuri said it had filed complaints with the Southern District Prosecutor’s Office against six officials from the three companies on behalf of the three investors.Lime Asset is accused o

Jan. 10, 2020

Samsung Electronics again hits record high amid rosy outlook

Shares in Samsung Electronics again climbed to a record high Friday on an outlook for an earlier-than-anticipated recovery in global demand and prices for chips, while foreign investors continued to net purchase local stocks for a sixth consecutive session.Samsung, the world's No. 1 memory chipmaker, surged 1.54 percent to close at 59,500 won ($51.23), one day after spiking3.17 percent to reach the highest level since its listing in 1975. The broader KOSPI advanced 0.91 percent to close at

Jan. 10, 2020

Foreigners turn net buyers of Korean stocks, but continue to dump bonds in Dec.

Foreign investors snapped a four-month selling streak to net purchase South Korean stocks in December but continued to reduce their investment in local bonds for a third month, central bank data showed Friday.Foreigners net bought $660 million worth of local stocks in the month, marking a sharp turnaround from a net selling of $2.44 billion the month before, according to the data from the Bank of Korea.Foreign investors had net sold local stocks for four consecutive months since August, dumping

Jan. 10, 2020

Samsung Electronics shares hit all-time high on recovery hopes

Samsung Electronics shares hit a record high Thursday on expectations of a faster-than-expected recovery in global chip demand and prices. The world's largest chipmaker closed at 58,600 won ($50.53), up 3.17 percent from the previous session's close.The adjusted stock price is the tech giant's highest since it was listed on the Seoul bourse in 1975. The previous record was 57,220 won on Nov. 1, 2017.  Samsung Electronics' preferred stocks jumped 3.64 percent to a yearly high of 48,400 won.

Jan. 9, 2020