William B. Stanton, Citibank Korea’s head of commercial bank, speaks at the “Singapore Digital Day” seminar, hosted by the Korean unit of the international banking giant, at Google Campus in Seoul on Wednesday. Around 100 corporate strategy, planning and treasury officers as well as Yip Wei Kiat, Singapore’s ambassador to Korea, attended the event, where experts shared their knowledge of the digital market and global opportunities in Singapore and ASEAN nations. (Citibank

Market June 5, 2019

South Korea has decided to change its liquor tax system for the first time in 50 years, shifting from a price-based to volume-based system, starting with domestically brewed beer and rice wine, the Ministry of Economy and Finance said Wednesday. The tax revision bill for 2020 will state that liquor tax will be levied based on the amount of alcohol sold, rather than adopting ad valorem calculations, which is based on the retail base price. The government plans to submit the bill to the National A

Industry June 5, 2019

South Korea’s benchmark Kospi shed 7.34 percent in May alone, according to the Korea Exchange on Tuesday, its largest monthly loss since October last year.The main bourse’s lackluster performance last month is fueling concerns among investors still recovering from the shock in October, when the stock market experienced the steepest monthly decline in a decade.  At that time it shed 13.37 percent, weighed down by the US’ decision to implement 10 percent tariffs on $200 bill

Market June 4, 2019

South Korea’s wealthy are more concerned about inheritance issues than generating profit from financial products in terms of asset management, data compiled by Samsung Securities showed Monday.The data was based on 1,630 cases of regular consulting with the firm’s clients who have over 3 billion won ($2.6 million) deposited in the firm for investment.  Of the clients, 30.2 percent acknowledged that inheritance issues were their priority concern, while 30 percent chose collecting

Market June 3, 2019

South Korean battery maker LG Chem said Sunday that its vice chairman hosted the firm’s first-ever recruitment event in Europe in an effort to search for global talent. On Friday, Vice Chairman and CEO Shin Hak-cheol hosted the event in Frankfurt, Germany, attended by 30 undergraduate and graduate students from 10 major universities and institutes across Europe. The firm’s Chief Human Resources Officer No In-ho also joined the event. The event not only marked the firm&rsquo

Industry June 2, 2019

South Korea’s main bourse Kospi posted a weak return rate of 0.03 percent since the beginning of the year, data from the Korea Exchange showed Sunday, putting the bourse near the bottom rank among its G20 counterparts. According to the KRX, the Kospi’s rate of return stood at a lackluster 0.03 percent as of Friday, the last trading day of May, placing it at No. 19 out of 20 major bourses around the world. Its rate of return hovered just above Turkey’s benchmark XU100, which ran

Market June 2, 2019

South Korea’s petroleum and refinery company Hyundai Oilbank has been actively promoting a culture of philanthropy through its “1% Nanum Foundation,” which is funded through a portion of the employees’ monthly salary, the firm said Thursday.The foundation, which was established in 2011, has been serving as a means for more than 95 percent of the firm’s employees and executives to donate a portion or 1 percent of their salary for charitable work.  Nanum means &l

Industry May 30, 2019

South Korea’s decision to lower the tax rate on securities transactions by 0.05 percentage point is set to take effect on Thursday, with the financial sector divided on whether it will successfully stimulate the market.Tax levied on stocks listed on the nation’s main bourse Kospi will be cut down to 0.1 percent from the previous 0.15 percent. Stocks on the secondary tech-heavy Kosdaq will be traded at the rate of 0.25 percent instead of the previous 0.3 percent. The rate for third-ti

Market May 29, 2019

In an apparent move to advocate the incumbent government’s real estate measures, the Land Ministry said Tuesday that Seoul’s housing prices had grown at a stable rate for the past five years, compared to fluctuations observed in real estate transaction prices in other major cities. Seoul saw an average 18.9 percent rate fluctuation in its housing price from 2014 to 2018, according to the data, which was released as part of a seminar co-hosted by the ministry and the state-run Ko

Economy May 28, 2019

South Korean firms have issued more than 5 trillion won ($4.27 billion) worth of environmental, social and governance-related bonds so far this year, which surpasses the volume of the asset class floated for the entirety of last year. ESG-related bonds are fixed income investments -- mostly issued by government-run organizations or institutions at the moment -- that finance environmental or social projects that help boost transparency and sustainability in society. Local firms including state-ru

Market May 28, 2019

South Korean companies listed on the main bourse saw their average debt-to-equity ratio up by nearly 6 percentage-points in the first quarter of the year, data showed Monday, with analysts citing poor corporate performance and implementation of new accounting standards. The average D/E ratio of 640 Kospi-listed firms, that end their fiscal year in December, increased 6.37 percentage points from the end of the year to 110.7 percent by end-March, according to data provided by the Korea Exchange, t

Market May 27, 2019

South Korean stocks fell Friday, while the won closed higher against the US dollar, hours after Washington’s remarks that it is considering to impose anti-subsidy duties on nations that undervalue their currencies against the greenback. The announcement, which came amid an intensifying US-China trade dispute, put Korea at risk of higher tariffs, alongside the world’s second-largest economy China, Japan, India, Germany, and Switzerland.  The benchmark Kospi closed 14.28 points, o

Market May 24, 2019

The overseas branches of South Korean financial institutions reported a 37 percent growth in their combined net profit on-year to nearly $1.3 billion last year, data from the Financial Supervisory Service showed Thursday.Overall, 79.1 percent of the combined net profit came from branches in Asia. China contributed the most with $252 million, with Hong Kong and Vietnam each tailing behind at $235 million and $157 million, respectively.  The number of overseas branches operated by the firms i

Market May 23, 2019

Woori Financial Group has conducted its first investor relations meetings abroad after adopting a financial holding firm structure early this year, the firm said Monday.Group Chairman Sohn Tae-seung is participating in the first leg of the company’s IR roadshow in Japan and Hong Kong, which kicked off Sunday. The roadshow will take place over the course of four days. Sohn plans to outline the firm’s first-quarter performance for its foreign investors, the firm said, adding that the f

Market May 20, 2019

South Korean investors are turning their attention to foreign stocks, with local shares continuing to yield disappointing results amid the benchmark Kospi’s lack of long-term movement. The nation’s benchmark Kospi index inched up nearly 7 percent from the beginning of the year as of Thursday, but is moving at a snail’s pace compared with other major global indexes. It was just last month that the US’ S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite closed at record-high levels, buoyed by

Market May 19, 2019