Korea’s market liquidity hits record high

The size of floating funds in the market reached a record high of 1,117.3 trillion won ($999.8 billion) as of late June, with the total unlikely to come down in the near future, official data showed Sunday.The numbers provided by the Bank of Korea and domestic financial investment firms showed that of the total, some 99 trillion won was cash, 231 trillion won was in demand deposits and 532 trillion won was in money market deposit accounts. The tally also covered money market funds, certificate o

Sept. 2, 2018

Bio shares ready to recover on growing investment, eased regulations

Shrugging off concerns over overvaluation and uncertainties regarding accounting regulations, South Korea's pharmaceutical and bio companies have shown signs of regaining their presence on the stock market.On Friday, Samsung BioLogics, a biopharmaceutical affiliate of the country's largest conglomerate, Samsung, spiked 3.7 percent to end at 463,000 won ($415.66). Celltrion also surged 1.31 percent to 270,000 won, and Hanmi Pharmaceutical grew 1.84 percent to 497,500 won.  The upturn came af

Sept. 2, 2018

BOK hawkish signs abate as uncertainties arise

South Korea’s central bank on Friday held the key rate steady at 1.5 percent for a ninth consecutive month on sluggish employment and external unease in August, defending its “accommodative” stance in normalizing monetary policy.The Bank of Korea cited sluggish employment conditions and spreading global trade protectionism, while expressing optimism for consistent domestic economic growth, favorable movements in exports and a moderate level of consumer price inflation at a

Aug. 31, 2018

Woori Bank to become 1st Korean commercial bank to shorten workweek

Woori Bank will become South Korea’s first commercial bank to shorten its workweek to 52 hours, a step to be implemented within a yearlong grace period under a government statute designed to help employees achieve a better work-life balance.Following an agreement between the bank’s management and its labor union, Woori Bank will begin phasing in the new policy in October. Teams or branches that require assistance will be reinforced with more employees, according to the bank. In addit

Aug. 30, 2018

Samsung Securities expands global network for esports market research

South Korean brokerage house Samsung Securities is expanding the global network for esports market research to local investors amid its growing presence in the sports industry. Esports refers to a form of competition using multiplayer video games. The ongoing 2018 Asian Games feature esports as a demonstration sport. ESports will debut as a medal event at the forthcoming 2022 Asian Games.  Samsung Securities analyzes the world’s esports market by two sectors -- game software developer

Aug. 30, 2018

KB Securities Korea’s most penalized brokerage

South Korea’s brokerage house KB Securities was slapped the highest number of disciplinary actions among financial firms here since 2015, data showed Wednesday.  From 2015 to the end of June this year, KB Securities, which was renamed after KB Investment & Securities’ merger with Hyundai Securities, were given 18 penalties from authorities -- the Financial Services Commission, the Financial Supervisory Service, the Korea Exchange and the Fair Trade Commission. This accounted

Aug. 29, 2018

Mirae Asset secures foothold in overseas ETF business

Seoul-headquartered asset management firm Mirae Asset Global Investments has secured a foothold for its exchange traded fund-related business through acquisitions overseas.  In July, Mirae Asset’s asset management unit completed the acquisition of New York-based ETF provider Global X Management Co. LLC in a $488 million deal as announced in February. The acquisition is expected to provide an “anchor presence” in the United States ETF market. With the addition of global ETF

Aug. 28, 2018

Korea to create W237.5b global fund for startups with Singapore

South Korea and Singapore will set up a fund worth at least 237.5 billion won ($213.2 million) to invest in Korean startups that seek to enter the Singaporean market and vice versa.  The state-backed fund of funds management firm Korea Venture Investment Corp. will partner with Singapore-based investment company Temasek Holdings to create the fund within six months, according to the Korean fund manager Monday.The size of the global fund could be expanded, depending on the volume of the Sing

Aug. 27, 2018

Brokerages’ income rises, stability declines

South Korea’s securities brokerage houses reported a combined 2.7 trillion won ($2.4 billion) in net profit in the first half of this year, up 40.7 percent on-year, preliminary data showed Monday. This marked the highest half-year volume since the first half of 2007, according to data compiled by the Financial Supervisory Service. The FSS is an oversight body of 55 securities trading companies in Korea. Meanwhile, the companies saw leverage ratio rise and financial stability decline throug

Aug. 27, 2018

Commercial banks’ overseas profit likely to hit record this year

The Korea Federation of Banks on Sunday expressed hopes for local commercial banks’ annual offshore net income from financial branch network operations and investments to mark a record this year.In the first half of 2018, four Korean commercial banks -- Shinhan, Woori, KEB Hana and KB Kookmin -- logged 527.2 billion won ($471.4 million) in net profits from offshore branches and investments overseas through investment banking and assets management. The figure soared 5 percent from the first

Aug. 26, 2018

Costco to end contract with Samsung Card, partner with Hyundai Card

Costco Wholesale Korea, the South Korean unit of the US wholesaler, has chosen Hyundai Card as its partner starting next year, according to the Korean card firm Friday. Following Costco’s single-network credit card policy, the new 10-year contract will put an end to the wholesaler’s partnership with Samsung Card, which has been in place since 2000, once it takes effect May 24, 2019. Hyundai card said an in-house team devoted to private-label credit cards and data analysis had he

Aug. 26, 2018

Over 100,000 vendors use Cashnote to manage card income

The number of vendors that use the card income management system Cashnote topped 100,000 as of Friday, according to the service provider, financial technology startup Korea Credit Data, Sunday. Cashnote is an add-on function for the mobile messenger service KakaoTalk. It helps merchants collect and manage card income records from different card companies and process charges efficiently. As of Friday, Cashnote had managed a cumulative total of 22 trillion won ($19.7 billion) in card income f

Aug. 26, 2018

KOSPI to move in tight range next week amid lack of momentum

South Korean shares are expected to move in a tight range next week amid a lack of clear cut momentum and investors' cautious stance on the ongoing trade dispute between the United States and China, analysts here said Saturday.  The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index closed at 2,293.21 on Friday, losing 10.61 points, or 0.46 percent. The main index ended in the positive territory this week, posting a 2.05 percent gain from a week earlier. Foreigners bought 567.76 billion won ($507

Aug. 25, 2018

Goldman sells new London HQ to Korean pension fund

Goldman Sachs has sold his new European headquarters, opening next year in London, to South Korea's National Pension Service for $1.5 billion, the US investment bank has said.Goldman added in a statement that it would lease back the building, worth $1.165 billion ($1.502 billion, 1.297 billion euros), in a deal lasting up to 25 years."The Goldman Sachs Group Inc. today announced it has entered into a binding agreement for the sale and leaseback of Plumtree Court with Korea's National Pensio

Aug. 23, 2018

AEBS students pick KB as operator of exemplary cultural space

Students from the Asia Elite Business Scholars group recently visited a bank branch renovated into a cultural space in Seoul run by South Korea’s KB Kookmin Bank.Located in Hongdae in western Seoul, the four-story building known as KB Rock Star Youth Lounge had been selected as AEBS’ exemplary case for transforming a space of business into one with cultural and artistic functions.AEBS comprises students from seven prestigious universities across Asia: Peking University, Fudan Univers

Aug. 23, 2018

NongHyup Bank acquires Cambodian microfinance institution

Seoul-based NongHyup Bank said Wednesday it gained regulatory approval Friday for operation of the Cambodian microfinance institution Samic that Nonghyup acquired in July.The Phnom Penh-based institution has been renamed NongHyup Finance Cambodia, following approval of the acquisition by the Cambodian Ministry of Commerce and National Bank of Cambodia. In July, the NBC greenlighted NongHyup Bank’s takeover of 100 percent of shares of Samic.It will begin operation in late August, according

Aug. 22, 2018

[Advertorial] Citibank Korea boosts global bank’s presence in Asia

Citibank has been picked as the “best in corporate trust” for three consecutive years by a Hong Kong financial magazine, with its boosted performances in South Korea and other major countries in the region having contributed to the win. The annual awards given by The Asset is called the 2018 Triple A Asset Servicing, Institutional Investor and Insurance Awards, assessing and recognizing both sell-side service providers and buy-side institutions in Asia’s highly dynamic ass

Aug. 22, 2018

Shinhan gears up for ING Life takeover

Shinhan Financial Group is gearing up to raise 400 billion won ($357.5 million) through debt funding in its move to take over ING Life Insurance Korea. If Shinhan manages to raise the capital through hybrid tier-1 contingent convertible (CoCo) bonds as pledged on Friday, this year it will see its capital increase some 1.1 trillion won.In March, Shinhan Financial Group issued 150 billion won worth of won-denominated hybrid CoCo bonds to local institutional investors. Also in August, $500 million

Aug. 22, 2018

ICT firms to be allowed to own internet-only banks

South Korea’s financial regulator has submitted a bill to the National Assembly to allow tech firms -- such as game developer Nexon and Netmarble Games -- to become major shareholders of internet-only banks, officials said Wednesday.The Financial Services Commission recently submitted the revision bill of the upcoming law on internet-only banks, seeking to ease the separation of banking and commerce, according to industry sources.While attending a related parliamentary committee Wednesday,

Aug. 22, 2018

[Advertorial] Hyundai Card targets young premium customers with ‘the Green’ card

Hyundai Card has launched a new premium credit card for the first time in 10 years, targeting young customers, the company said Wednesday.The credit card operator earlier this month released the Green, an online application-only credit card, which offers 1 percent mileage savings for all card usage that attains 500,000 won ($447) in monthly spending, double credit benefits depending on the monthly card amount, and additional 5 percent mileage for overseas shopping. Under the slogan “M

Aug. 22, 2018