Korea’s financial authorities said it would launch a joint investigative division on Tuesday for streamlined scrutiny of alleged stock manipulation cases.The special unit, as a new arm of the Financial Services Commission, has been dubbed the “capital market investigation division,” the regulator said in a statement Monday.It will be composed of 18 inspectors from the FSC, the Financial Supervisory Service, the Korea Exchange and the Ministry of Justice. They will be empowered to refer to mobile

Sept. 16, 2013

France-based BNP Paribas Group is widening its strategic partnerships with Korean financial firms, advancing from its current operations in the wealth management and insurance sectors in alliance with Shinhan Financial Group.It has picked Hana Financial Group, a competitor of Shinhan Financial, as another local business partner.Following its signing of a pact in collaboration with Hana Financial in the bancassurance business last July, BNP Baribas deputy chief operating officer Jacques d’Estais

Sept. 15, 2013

More and more analysts at home and abroad are reiterating that Korea’s economic fundamentals are solid. They cite robust performances of some major conglomerates and sufficient foreign exchange reserves, forecasting a bullish stock market.Optimists say that Korea has successfully weathered a variety of global negative factors unlike major emerging countries that suffered a plunge in stocks and depreciation of their currencies.Policymakers including Bank of Korea governor Kim Choong-soo also rece

Sept. 15, 2013

KEB, a unit of Hana Financial Group, has won an award for the best foreign exchange bank in Korea from a Hong Kong-based magazine, bank officials said on Sunday.FinanceAsia held the award ceremony over the weekend to hand KEB the Best Foreign Exchange Bank in Korea prize. The bank topped the list for the segment among Korean financial firms for the sixth consecutive year.“Despite the fierce competition with other banks, we, as a bank specializing in foreign currency, will lead the market with ne

Sept. 15, 2013

The Fair Trade Commission said Thursday that it would file a complaint with the prosecution against Baesangmyun Brewery for allegedly bullying some of its subcontractors.The liquor producer pressured some of its 74 wholesalers to purchase a certain quota of makgeolli, according to the regulator.The FTC alleged that Baesangmyun Brewery exploited its dominant power as the nation’s second-largest traditional liquor maker with a market share of about 22 percent.The company was found to have scaled b

Industry Sept. 12, 2013

The Financial Supervisory Service said Thursday that it issued a “caution” against Shinhan Investment Corp. for breaching the law on transactions based on real-name accounts.The securities unit of Shinhan Financial Group has been placed under regulators’ investigation over the past few months market allegations that former group chairman Ra Eung-chan traded group stocks via the Shinhan Investment accounts under borrowed names.An ex-branch manager of Shinhan Investment was found to have endorsed

Sept. 12, 2013

Financial regulators on Tuesday launched their investigation into KB Financial Group shares, which plummeted during the trading session following some unidentified investors’ bulk “sell” orders through a foreign brokerage house earlier in the day.While some observers said they regarded the KB Financial stocks’ fluctuation as a securities firm making a simple mistake in issuing the order, the Financial Supervisory Service decided to look into the allegation of attempted price-rigging.After the Ko

Sept. 10, 2013

The Financial Supervisory Service said Monday that it had launched an inquiry into suspicions of irregular business practices involving several foreign investment banks operating in Korea.The foreign banks include the local units of New York-based Goldman Sachs, Zurich-based Credit Suisse and Edinburgh-based Royal Bank of Scotland, according to the financial regulator.While the main investigation target of the FSS involves the three banks’ sales of financial derivatives in Korea, market insiders

Sept. 9, 2013

The Fair Trade Commission said Friday that it issued a warning against SK E&C for unfair deals with eight subcontractors.The conglomerate-based builder was found to have paid the small and mid-sized enterprises parts-supply costs far later than the legal due dates, according to the antitrust regulator.An FTC official said some of the eight suppliers were paid 437 days past the deadline.“As a government agency ― for its construction order ― raised its total payment to SK E&C in reflection of the

Sept. 6, 2013

Korean companies and individuals were found to have continued to increase their money remittance to overseas tax havens over the past few years.According to the Bank of Korea and data from the financial investment industry, their money transfers to tax havens including countries in the Caribbean have nearly doubled since the 2008 financial crisis.The annual figure, which stood at $212.2 billion (254.3 trillion won) in 2009, climbed to $324.2 billion in 2010, $385.7 billion in 2011 and $413.9 in

Sept. 6, 2013

Debates on whether to raise incomes taxes on the wealthy will likely be heated between ruling and opposition lawmakers during the September plenary session of the National Assembly.While the governing Saenuri Party had taken a skeptical stance over demands to increase the tax burden on the high-income bracket, opposition lawmakers have revived the issue.Along with the opening of the plenary session, 10 lawmakers of the main opposition Democratic Party proposed a motion to raise the upper ceiling

Sept. 5, 2013

The Fair Trade Commission on Wednesday imposed fines of 665 million won ($578,000) in total on three conglomerates for breaching the disclosure rules on intra-group deals.Between April 2010 and March 2013, 17 out of the 38 business units of Lotte, POSCO and Hyundai Heavy Industries engaged in the irregular intra-group trading, said the antitrust regulator.The FTC revealed 25 violations by the 17 companies. As the cases involve “not publicizing” or “delaying disclosure,” allegations could be rais

Sept. 4, 2013