Financial authorities are working to placate creditors of Ssangyong Engineering & Construction, as the builder could face a more serious situation than its current debt rescheduling: delisting from the stock market.The Financial Services Commission’s efforts have been stepped up after the Military Mutual Aid Association moved to provisionally seize the bank accounts of the cash-strapped construction firm.Over the weekend, the FSC held emergency talks with the company’s creditors -- both financia

Dec. 8, 2013

Bank of Korea data showed Thursday that growth of gross national income, which indicates purchasing power, stood at its lowest level in the past six quarters.The GNI for the third quarter inched up 0.2 percent from the previous quarter, which marks the lowest rate since it posted 0.1 percent in the first quarter of 2012.It is a noteworthy slowdown, compared to the 2.9 percent growth in the second quarter of 2013 and 0.8 percent in the first quarter.According to BOK officials, the stalled growth

Dec. 5, 2013

Former Hana Financial Group chairman Kim Seung-yu expressed his willingness to step down from his post as adviser to the financial firm.His departure comes after the Financial Supervisory Service said it was investigating allegations that Kim had engaged in irregular business practices during his tenure as the group’s chief.Hana Bank owns about 4,000 pieces of artwork. Kim is known to be an art lover but the FSS suspects there is more to the bank’s unusually large art collection.On Tuesday, the

Dec. 4, 2013

The Green Climate Fund will kick off its operations in Korea on Wednesday, with a fund-raising operation on a similar scale to that of the International Monetary Fund.In late 2012, Songdo in Incheon was chosen as the permanent home to the environment-oriented fund, beating two major competitors ― Geneva, Switzerland, and Bonn, Germany ― in the competition to host the secretariat.Its total fund-raising is estimated to reach $800 billion (880 trillion won) in the coming years, approaching the leve

Dec. 3, 2013

Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hyun Oh-seok said Friday that the government needs to carefully review Korea’s participation in the Trans-Pacific Partnership called TPP, a U.S.-led move to create a free trade bloc linking Pacific Rim states.Speaking at a meeting with trade-related ministers, Hyun said it is necessary for the government to express interest in the participation in the TPP and to hold bilateral preliminary consultations with the participating countries.The U.S. has spear

Nov. 29, 2013

The Park Geun-hye administration is considering easing a set of business regulations on medical institutions and schools in free economic zones nationwide.During a policy briefing to the president on Thursday, the National Economic Advisory Council unveiled a vision to develop the service industry by lifting outdated barriers in terms of attracting foreign capital to the FEZs in Incheon and other regions. For the medical sector, the NEAC recommended eliminating the requirements that foreign hosp

Nov. 28, 2013

The National Tax Service on Thursday publicized a list of habitual tax defaulters, who failed to pay or allegedly evaded taxes worth more than 500 million won ($471,180) for at least one year.On its homepage, the tax agency revealed personal or corporate information on 1,662 delinquent individuals and 936 businesses. The list features the name, age, job, address and records of the tax infractions.The average amount of taxes owed is 18.4 billion won per case. All together, this adds up to a total

Nov. 28, 2013

The government plans to allow local commercial banks to take over financial groups in foreign countries to boost their global competitiveness in the face of the saturated domestic market.The state-led project for encouraging the active expansion of domestic banks into foreign markets has been included in the policy agenda for development of the financial industry, unveiled by the Financial Services Commission on Wednesday.The authorities have decided to lift a ban on the acquisition by domestic

Nov. 27, 2013

More and more economic research institutes are raising the possibility that Korea’s economic growth will stay below 1 percent per quarter throughout 2014.Their gloomy outlook followed an earlier projection by the Finance Ministry that the GDP growth could continue to post less than 1 percent on a quarterly basis next year.The ministry’s forecast, unveiled in the first half of 2013, had been interpreted among market participants as adding pressure on the Bank of Korea to boost the economy by push

Nov. 24, 2013

Financial authorities have begun an earnest push to sell Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, with the aim of retrieving the taxpayers’ money injected into the shipbuilder by the second half of 2014.The scheduled auction plan was mapped out by the Korea Development Bank and the Financial Services Commission, the two main shareholders of DSME.In an initial step, the FSC ― through its executive arm, the Public Fund Oversight Committee ― reduced its stake in the company from 17.15 percent to 1

Nov. 24, 2013

The number of marriages of international couples in South Korea declined for the second consecutive year, while the birthrate for such families continued to rise, according to a government report.Statistics Korea said in its report released on Thursday that the number of multicultural marriages stood at 29,224 in 2012, down 4.8 percent from 30,695 from a year earlier. The figure reached 35,098 in 2010.Data showed that the proportion of multicultural partners out of total marriages also dropped f

Nov. 21, 2013

A group of Korean companies filed a class action suit against eight global investment banks in the United States on Monday, claiming that the big financial firms manipulated foreign exchange rates.The IBs are Barclays, Citigroup, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, JPMorgan Chase, National Association, Royal Bank of Scotland and UBS.In their damages claim filed with a court in New York state, the plaintiff including Simmtech Co. said the IBs rigged foreign exchange rates via a cartel and ultimately in

Nov. 18, 2013