State-run Industrial Bank of Korea CEO Yoon Jong-won recently met with corporate clients and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development officials in Europe, while inspecting potential markets the bank is eyeing to enter, the firm said Friday. The meetings and site visits took place during his weeklong business trip to Poland, the United Kingdom and France from Nov. 23-30. In Poland, Yoon visited two factories and met with corporate clients to lend an ear to the troubles they ha

Market Dec. 3, 2021

South Korea’s KB Financial Group said Wednesday it has tapped a 55-year-old sales executive to head its flagship KB Kookmin Bank, reflecting the financial giant’s drive to seek transformation in business and target younger people. Lee Jae-keun, KB Kookmin Bank’s current senior executive vice president of the sales division, will become the youngest current CEO in the nation’s banking industry. Lee’s two-year term starts in January once his nomination is approved a

Market Dec. 1, 2021

A government-led program that aims to give consumers more information and control of their personal finance data was officially launched Wednesday, allowing customers to manage their lives more efficiently. The program dubbed “MyData” allows customers of 53 government-approved financial institutions to receive personal, customized and comprehensive finance data of their spending, all bank account balances, loans, insurance and more from the choice of their firm. The services will b

Market Dec. 1, 2021

South Korea’s Shinhan Bank said Tuesday it has completed its review of its cross-border wiring and transfer technology for stablecoins, but remained cautious on its actual adoption. 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. “With the stablecoin transactions growing overseas, including JP Morgan&rsqu

Market Nov. 30, 2021

South Korea’s vice finance minister said Monday that the government plans to keep close tabs on the financial market for possible volatilities and woes caused by the emergence of the omicron variant of the COVID-19 virus. “There is a possibility that the volatilities in the global financial market could be expanded by the emergence of the omicron variant,” First Vice Finance Minister Lee Eog-won said at a macroeconomic meeting of government officials and the private sector.

Economy Nov. 29, 2021

A day after South Korea’s central bank chief strongly hinted at another rate hike within the first quarter of 2022 following its decision to raise its base rate by 25 basis point to 1 percent, analysts on Friday projected the expected move to come as early as January. The BOK’s monetary policy board on Thursday carried out its second pandemic-era rate hike amid growing inflationary pressure and snowballing household debt. BOK Gov. Lee Ju-yeol in a press briefing explained that the

Economy Nov. 26, 2021

South Korea’s central bank on Thursday raised its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points, returning to the 1 percent rate range after 20 months, while upgrading this year’s inflation target. In a largely expected move, the Bank of Korea carried out a rate hike as a result of the last monetary policy meeting of the year. The central bank stood pat on its base rate in the previous rate-setting meeting last month, after carrying out a rate hike of 25 basis points to 0.75 percent i

Economy Nov. 25, 2021

South Korea’s JB Financial Group received an overall “A plus” rating for the firm’s environmental, sustainable and governance values by the nation’s leading proxy advisory institution for the second consecutive year. JB Financial said Monday it has received the second highest level of a seven-tier ESG rating from the Korea Corporate Governance Service, citing the firm’s recent progress in adopting ESG values in management. This year, KCGS’ ESG rating

Market Nov. 23, 2021

Woori Financial Group’s decadeslong journey toward privatization neared its final stage Monday, as financial authorities said the banking group is now “technically fully privatized,” greenlighting five investors in acquiring most of the remaining stake in the firm owned by the government. The Public Fund Oversight Committee under the Financial Services Commission sold a combined 9.3 percent stake in Woori Financial of the 15.13 percent owned by the state-run Korea Deposit Ins

Market Nov. 22, 2021

South Korea’s central bank is expected to carry out its second rate hike in the pandemic era this week, and is likely to raise it by 25 basis points to 1 percent, experts said Sunday. The Bank of Korea in August raised its base rate to 0.75 percent from a record-low 0.5 percent, which it had slashed to in May 2020 to cushion the market from COVID-19 woes. It kept the rate anchored at 0.75 percent in the following meeting held in October. In the last monetary policy meeting of the year sc

Economy Nov. 21, 2021

South Korea’s Shinhan Financial Group Chairman Cho Yong-byoung was elected as a member of the Leadership Council, under the United Nations sustainability initiative between the organization and the global finance sector, the firm said Thursday. The United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative was created in 1992 between the UNEP and the financial sector to better encourage the adoption of sustainability in financial institutions around the world. So far 450 global financial in

Market Nov. 18, 2021

Analysts in and out of the country remained divided on their outlooks for South Korea’s benchmark Kospi next year this week, noting volatilities stemming from inflationary pressures, a memory down cycle and Korea’s presidential election in March. Morgan Stanley analysts on Wednesday slashed their growth target for South Korea’s benchmark Kospi by 250 points to 3,000 for end-2020, citing an ongoing unfavorable environment for the equity market and pointing to the upcoming pres

Market Nov. 17, 2021

Experts have cast doubt on recent pledges made by major presidential candidates and their parties on overhauling real estate tax rules, with critics raising questions over its feasibility and impact on the property market. Yoon Seok-youl, the presidential nominee of the main opposition People Power Party, on Sunday vowed via Facebook to reexamine the comprehensive real estate holding tax, which is levied on high-value or multiple property owners. The tax is currently levied annually between t

Economy Nov. 16, 2021

South Korea’s financial watchdog imposed a fine of 23.6 million won ($20,000) on Naver Financial and issued sanctions on its executives, citing the lack of security of its e-payment system and other violations tied to management, reports said Monday. According to local reports, the Financial Supervisory Service earlier this month slapped a fine on Korean portal giant Naver’s wholly owned financial technology unit and issued “warnings,” the lowest level of its five-tier s

Market Nov. 15, 2021

South Korea’s domestic demand is on its track for a recovery in line with the rebound in exports and the adoption of the “Living with COVID-19” scheme, the Ministry of Economy and Finance said in its monthly report. “The Korean economy is recovering amid an ongoing improvement in exports and the job market,” the ministry said in a monthly report. “Domestic demand is likely to gradually rebound as the in-person service sector recovers due to eased quarantin

Economy Nov. 12, 2021