Responding to South Korean investors’ growing interest in direct trading of foreign securities, the nation‘s bourse operator Korea Exchange has listed a wide range of popular overseas exchange-traded funds as well as exchange-traded notes, according to the KRX Wednesday.  As of May this year, a total of 257 overseas exchange-traded funds and exchange-traded notes are listed on the KRX, officials said.  Local investors trading ETFs and ETNs listed on the KRX are not subjec

Market June 23, 2021

Despite the economic fallout of COVID-19, the number of South Korean millionaires sharply increased, largely due to an overheating phenomenon in asset markets following the government’s pandemic-era stimulus measures, a report showed Wednesday.  According to the “Global Wealth Report 2021,” released by Swiss banking giant Credit Suisse, the number of people with financial assets worth more than $1 million, or nearly 1.1 billion won, rose by 140,000 on-year to 1.05 million

Economy June 23, 2021

Impeached former President Park Geun-hye’s house in Naegok-dong, southern Seoul, will be put up for sale in August at a public auction, according to local real estate auction information provider GG Auction on Tuesday. The state-run Korea Asset Management Corp. will kick off the first round of bidding on Aug. 9. If the property does not sell during the three-day bidding period, Kamco will lower the price by 10 percent and hold a second round of bidding the following week, officials sai

Market June 22, 2021

Global ratings firm Moody’s on Tuesday raised its rating outlook for South Korean lender NH NongHyup Bank from stable to positive, while maintaining the firm’s ratings at A1.  “The upgrade reflects our expectation that the bank’s asset soundness and capital adequacy as well as improved profitability will remain solid over the next 12-18 months,” Moody’s said in a statement.  Meanwhile, Moody’s revised up the ratings of NH Investment & S

Market June 22, 2021

To provide financial support for South Korean companies with overseas contracts in the Middle East, the state-run Export-Import Bank of Korea has signed a loan agreement worth $5 billion, or nearly 6 trillion won, with Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, the state-owned oil company of the United Arab Emirates, officials said Monday.  The framework agreement was made at a meeting between Eximbank CEO Bang Moon-kyu and Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, CEO of the UAE's ADNOC, held Sunday at the oil company

Market June 21, 2021

This is a part of a series of articles investigating financial activities of seniors during rapid digitalization of the finance industry. —Ed. Yang Kyung-soon, a 72-year-old grandma living in a small neighborhood in Uiseong, North Gyeongang Province, takes a two-hour round-trip bus journey to visit her bank. Twice a month, Yang makes the trip downtown to pay her utility bills.  She has banking service apps on her smartphone that can process the payment in a second, but she feels mo

Economy June 20, 2021

Hana Financial Group Chairman Kim Jung-tai (fifth from left, second row) poses with female midlevel managers during a launch ceremony of a new in-house program titled Hana Waves held at its headquarters in central Seoul on Tuesday. Members invited to the first series of programs have been recommended by CEOs of Hana affiliates to develop their leadership roles as part of the group‘s gender diversity efforts at the C-suite level. (Hana Financial Group)

Market June 17, 2021

Economies with solid demand for home-backed lending, including South Korea, are likely to see housing prices decrease merely 3 percent in the event of a 1 percentage point hike in the benchmark interest rate, a report showed Tuesday.  Korea’s ratio of mortgage loans to gross domestic product came to 47.1 percent last year, up 14.7 percentage points from the 2010 estimate, according to a report from the London-based Centre for Economic Policy Research on how monetary policy affects

Economy June 15, 2021

Hana Financial Group said Monday that it has obtained a preliminary license from Singapore’s financial authorities to open an asset management company in the Southeast Asian country. The Monetary Authority of Singapore granted the partial approval Friday, though it hasn’t notified the banking giant when a final business license will be issued, officials said. Hana Financial’s attempt to make inroads into Singapore’s promising asset management market is part of the group

Market June 14, 2021

Hana Financial Group said Friday it had launched an internet-only bank in Indonesia through a partnership with Line, Naver-affiliated Japanese messaging app provider. Hana Financial became the first banking group to operate internet-only banking services in Southeast Asia. Branded Line Bank, it offers contactless banking, including savings account opening, subscription to deposit savings products, utility bill payment and cash withdrawals.  The newly launched digital lender will expand

Market June 11, 2021

Bank of Korea Gov. Lee Ju-yeol said Friday that a key interest rate hike is plausible by the end of this year in step with economic recovery. “If our economy is expected to stage a modest recovery, (the BOK) will normalize the current easing of monetary policy in an orderly way at an appropriate time,” Lee said in a statement to mark the 71st anniversary of the BOK’s foundation. Earlier in April, the BOK froze its key interest rate at a record low of 0.5 percent amid concer

Market June 11, 2021

South Koreans are experiencing greater economic pain in recent months, largely due to soaring consumer prices and higher unemployment rates amid the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, data showed Thursday.  The nation’s so-called misery perceptions index, calculated by adding the seasonally adjusted jobless rate to the annual inflation rate, stood at 6.6 in May, sharply up from 4.2 estimated a year earlier. The latest figure marked the highest since May 2011 when it hit 7.1, said Rep. Choo

Economy June 10, 2021

The Korean Financial Industry Union and the Finance Industry User Council have agreed that workers who get vaccinated for COVID-19 are entitled to up to three days of paid leave, officials said Sunday. Under the agreement, which will take effect Monday, employees of 22 financial institutions registered with the Korea Federation of Banks -- a body that represents commercial banks -- will receive two days off work, the day of the vaccination and the day after.  Those who show signs of ad

Market June 6, 2021

Despite the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic and social distancing rules in place, some indoor golf facilities featuring simulators and golf courses have been enjoying increased popularity, thanks largely to their relatively less crowded environments, a report said Sunday.  According to the report published by research firm KB Financial Group Research Institute, Golfzon, the nation’s leading virtual golf simulator company, saw its total sales increase more than 20 percent on-year in 202

Market June 6, 2021

The ruling Democratic Party is considering a new round of COVID-19 emergency cash handouts for all nationals before the Chuseok holiday as social distancing rules have continued to weigh on the local economy, according to party officials Wednesday. “Another round of universal COVID-19 response stimulus checks backed by a second extra budget is urgently needed,” said Yun Ho-jung, the ruling Democratic Party floor leader.  “(The party) will kick off a review of fiscal stra

Economy June 2, 2021