Nonghyup Bank has yet to fully normalize the operation of its automated teller machines as of Monday, after its network system was paralyzed by cyber attacks on March 20.According to its spokespeople, about 450 ATMs at Nonghyup Bank’s branches nationwide were still malfunctioning as of 2 p.m., March 25.In the restoration process, Nonghyup Financial Group lags behind Shinhan Financial Group, which fully repaired glitches in network systems at its two subsidiaries ― Shinhan Bank and Jeju Bank ― wi

March 25, 2013

Financial Services Commission chairman Shin Je-yoon pledged to revamp the governance structure of major financial groups during his inaugural speech on Friday.Though the system which puts financial firms under management of their parent financial holding companies was introduced 12 years ago, it has yielded a variety of problems, said the new chief financial regulator.Shin stressed that financial authorities are set to overhaul details in the financial groups, such as Woori, KB, Shinhan and Hana

March 22, 2013

Regulators issued a “caution” to the financial industry over possible cyberattacks in the wake of a network glitch in two financial groups on Wednesday.For several hours from around 2 p.m. on the day, two bank units of Shinhan Financial Group and three subsidiaries of Nonghyup Financial Group suffered serious problems in its online transaction systems.The Financial Supervisory Service immediately raised the alarm level for cybersecurity to “caution” from “attention.”The nation’s regulator also l

March 20, 2013

KB Financial Group chairman Euh Yoon-dae has seemingly been successful in resolving the recent conflict between management and outside directors.Euh was tackling a false allegation ― raised by a KB Financial senior executive ― that some outside directors dispatched by financial authorities sought to block KB Financial from taking over ING Life Korea.Foreign investors were informed of the allegation, which had not been verified, via a report by the U.S.-based Institutional Shareholder Services In

March 20, 2013

The Financial Supervisory Service on Tuesday issued an “institutional caution” against Heungkuk Life Insurance for glossing over irregular practices at a sales branch.“While the Heungkuk branch attracted policyholders via unauthorized practices, the headquarters did not take any disciplinary action despite internal detection,” an FSS official said.Ultimately, the headquarters suffered losses worth 1.22 billion won ($1.1 million) ― as extra costs for resolving unfair contracts between the branch

March 19, 2013

Lotte Tour has faced critical financial woes, raising the possibility that the company could be driven out from the nation’s main bourse.The scenario of Lotte Tour being delisted from the Korea Exchange comes as the 31 trillion won ($28.4 billion) urban development project in Yongsan, Seoul, is on the verge of collapse under dishonored bills.While the company participated in the largest-ever project as a main investor, its external auditor Daesung Accounting Corp. publicly evaluated Lotte Tour’s

March 18, 2013

Financial regulators pledged Sunday that they would take stern punitive measures against unidentified whistle-blowers at KB Financial Group, who leaked reportedly “skewed” insider information.One or more ranking figures of KB Financial have been suspected of spreading groundless allegations involving the financial group’s M&A strategies, said an official of the Financial Supervisory Service.A key unverified allegation is that “the financial group had to scrap its takeover bid for the Korean insu

March 17, 2013

The Financial Supervisory Service plans to publicize its yearly assessment of about 70 financial firms’ consumer protection, involving cases of customers’ complaints and dispute arbitration, next month.Attention is being paid to whether Kiwoom Securities in the brokerage industry and Chartis in the nonlife insurance industry will be given the lowest grade of “class 5 (or poor)” for the 10th consecutive year.Between 2004 (for the 2003 assessment) and 2012 (for the 2011 assessment), the two financ

March 17, 2013

The brokerage industry has downplayed some market observers’ prediction that some major financial firms will be severely damaged from the possible collapse of the 31 trillion won ($28.4 billion) urban development project in Yongsan, Seoul.As the nation’s largest-ever project faced bankruptcy involving worries over capital erosion and liquidation of the state-controlled rail operator KORAIL, some critics commented on the feasibility that the financial services industry will go through heavy losse

March 14, 2013

The Ministry of Strategy and Finance has been saddled with two contradictory tasks: boosting sagging private consumption and raising tobacco prices.Last year, financial policymakers were skeptical about a cigarette price hike pushed by the Health and Welfare Ministry. They cited possible negative effects on consumer prices and household consumption.Further, the Finance Ministry denied the rumors in January that policymakers are poised to raise cigarette prices or create a new tax on the products

March 13, 2013

More and more market participants are betting that the Bank of Korea will lower the benchmark interest rate in March ― the first monthly rate-setting under the Park Geun-hye administration.According to a poll of 132 bond traders conducted by the Korea Financial Investment Association, 46 percent of respondents predicted a rate cut at the meeting of the BOK’s monetary policy committee, slated for Thursday.Some economists and analysts, however, claimed that a rate cut from the current 2.75 percent

March 12, 2013