K-Bank meets more than half of full-year deposit target in 24 days

K-Bank, South Korea's first Internet-only bank, has achieved more than half of its full-year target of attracting deposits just 24 days after launching operations, the nation's financial regulator said Thursday. The pace of growth in K-Bank's deposits is much faster than expected and the Internet-only bank is fueling increased competition with traditional banks, the Financial Services Commission said in a statement. K-Bank, formed by a consortium of KT Corp., Woori Bank and 19 other compani

April 27, 2017

Stocks open lower on Samsung affiliates, automakers

South Korean stocks got off to a weak start on Thursday, led by losses in Samsung Electronics and its affiliates and automakers.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index shed 4.74 points, or 0.21 percent, to 2,203.10 in the first 15 minutes of trading.On Wednesday, the Kospi closed at a fresh six-year high, driven by continued foreign buying.Investors also seem to be tempted to cash in gains.Market kingpin Samsung Electronics was 0.47 percent down and Samsung C&T, the de facto holding

April 27, 2017

Kospi tops 2,200

South Korea’s stock market stayed bullish, with its benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index crossing the 2,200 mark for the first time in six years Wednesday, amid world market rallies and the earnings parade of local corporations. The main bourse closed at 2,207.84 Wednesday, up 0.5 percent, or 10.99 points compared to the previous day. It surpassed the 2,200 mark for the first time after May 4, 2011, when the market ended at 2,201.69. It opened at 2,202.37 Wednesday, up 5.52 points,

April 26, 2017

[Election 2017] How will presidential candidates raise taxes?

The following is the third in a series of articles breaking down the presidential candidates’ major economic pledges in a simulated question-and-answer format by gathering their answers from official websites, media interviews, public speeches, books and more. The third installment delves into their proposals on increasing taxes and enhancing welfare. -- Ed.South Korea’s tax code is likely to reach a turning point upon the May 9 presidential election, as the majority of the president

April 26, 2017

Standard Chartered Bank Korea to hold fintech forum

Standard Chartered Bank Korea announced Wednesday it plans to hold a forum dedicated to financial technology at its main branch in Korea on May 17.Michael Gorriz, group chief information officer at the London-based Standard Chartered Bank and Lim Jung-wook, managing director of Startup Alliance in Korea, will deliver keynote speeches at the forum.Under the theme of “Digital Technology Reshaping the Banking Industry,” the forum will involve sessions on the innovation of financial serv

April 26, 2017

BOK chief calls for efforts to better reflect economic reality in GDP

The head of South Korea's central bank called Wednesday for efforts to better reflect the rapidly changing economic reality in the gross domestic product.GDP -- the broadest measure of an economy's performance -- is the total value of goods and services produced within the economy in a given period. It has been used as one of the major indicators in economic policy-making. Still, some critics say GDP does not properly reflect new activities such as digital or economic sharing. They also say GDP

April 26, 2017

Rates for household loans inch up in March

Bank lending rates on new household loans inched up in March and interest rates paid by banks on new deposits remained unchanged, central bank data showed Wednesday.The average interest rates on fresh household loans extended by local banks came to 3.43 percent in March, up 0.05 percentage point from the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea. The BOK data came amid South Korea's efforts to tackle rising household debt. South Korea's outstanding household credit -- which is composed of h

April 26, 2017

Korean stocks trade at 6-yr high in late morning

South Korean stocks traded at a six-year high early Wednesday morning, led by gains in tech companies, chemicals firms and automakers.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 10.01 points, or 0.46 percent, to 2,206.86 as of 11:15 a.m.Market kingpin Samsung Electronics was 0.09 percent down and SK hynix, a major chipmaker, surged 2.19 percent.Hyundai Motor, the No. 1 automaker, moved up 0.69 percent, and AmorePacific, the country's top cosmetics maker, remained unchanged.SK Innovation

April 26, 2017

More listed firms seek to use shadow voting this year

A total of 642 listed firms in South Korea have sought the practice of shadow voting this year to meet quorum requirements for approval at their annual meetings of shareholders, sharply up 40 percent from a year ago, data showed Wednesday. Shadow voting, or mirror voting, is a practice under which companies can ask stocks registered with the Korea Securities Depository to vote in the same proportion as voters who participate in an annual shareholder meeting.Introduced in 1991, the practice is se

April 26, 2017

Kospi tops 2,200 for first time in 6 years

South Korea’s benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index topped 2,200 points, for the first time in six years when it opened Wednesday.The main bourse soared 5.52 points, or 0.25 percent, to reach 2,202.37 at 9 a.m. After 36 minutes of trading, it reached 2,206.22, up 9.37 points, or 0.43 percent. 　The Kospi closed at 2,196.85 Tuesday. This is the first time in six years that Kospi has surpassed the 2,200 mark. On May 4, 2011, the market closed at 2,201.69. The first-tier stock market has

April 26, 2017

Mortgage-backed deals rise in Q1, but pace of growth slows

South Korea's residential mortgage-backed securitizations slightly rose in the first quarter of this year, but the pace of quarterly growth slowed because of the government's efforts to curb mounting household debt, official data showed Wednesday. State-run Korea Housing Finance Corp. issued 9 trillion won ($8 billion) in mortgage-backed securities during the January-March period, up 300 billion won from the same period a year ago, the Financial Supervisory Service said in a statement.The s

April 26, 2017

Stocks open higher on gains in tech, autos

South Korean stocks opened higher Wednesday led by gains in tech companies, chemicals firms and automakers.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 7.91 points, or 0.36 percent, to 2,204.76 in the first 15 minutes of trading.On Tuesday, the KOSPI closed at a six-year high, driven by continued foreign buying.Market kingpin Samsung Electronics was 0.09 percent down and SK hynix, a major chipmaker, surged 2.48 percent.Hyundai Motor, the No. 1 automaker, moved up 0.36 percent, and AmoreP

April 26, 2017

Korea's 3rd bourse to ease listing rules

South Korea's stock market for venture firms and start-ups plans to ease its listing rules, allowing more small firms to raise funds via the market, the nation's financial regulator said Tuesday. The Korea New Exchange (KONEX) market opened in 2013 for fledgling businesses to raise funds easier via stock sales rather than having to borrow from banks. The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) decided to ease listing rules for the KONEX market as the average daily transaction value for the market ha

April 25, 2017

Kospi hits a 6-year high on foreign buying

South Korean stocks on Tuesday hit a six-year high, on strong buying from foreign investors with the global stock market rally, brokerage data showed.The nation’s benchmark Kospi closed at 2,196.85, rising by 1.06 percent from the previous session. The figure is the highest since the index closed at 2,200.73 on May 3, 2011, according to the Korea Exchange. The tech-heavy Kosdaq also went up 0.95 percent to close at 632.57.Foreign investors net bought 651.4 billion won worth stocks, pulling

April 25, 2017

Hyundai Samho lands W300b IMM Private Equity investment

Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries, a shipbuilding affiliate of Hyundai Heavy Industries, has landed a 300 billion won ($265.7 million) pre-initial public offering investment with IMM Private Equity. Under the agreement with IMM PE, HSHI said it will issue 5.36 million new convertible preferred shares, with the private equity firm paying out 300 billion won in total to acquire the stocks at 56,000 won per share.The new deal will bring Hyundai Samho’s total market value to 2.5 trillion won.&nbs

April 25, 2017

Daewoo E&C back in black following record Q1 performance

Daewoo Engineering & Construction has recorded its largest quarterly operating profit in the company’s history, posting operating profits of roughly 22.1 billion won ($19.5 million) and a net income of 191.9 billion won, according to the company Tuesday. Despite recording operating and net losses in the fourth quarter of last year, Daewoo E&C said the profits achieved in its housing and construction sectors rose by 171 percent compared to the same period last year, thrusting t

April 25, 2017

Mirae's 4 ETFs excel in HK

Mirae Asset Global Investments, an asset management unit under Mirae Asset Global Investments Group, said its four exchange-traded funds have shown their competitive edge against other ETF products on the Hong Kong Exchange.Mirae Asset’s four leverage and inverse ETFs, or L&I ETFs, that traces Hang Seng index comprised of H-shares on the Hong Kong Exchange, ranked second in terms of the market share in L&I ETFs’ accumulated turnover as of April 19 since their listing on the H

April 25, 2017

Credit card companies’ challenges and responses in the fourth industrial revolution

Since the fourth industrial revolution was discussed in the World Economic Forum in January, 2016, the academic circle and the media have expressed interests in key drivers of the fourth industrial revolution including biometrics, big data and artificial intelligence. In addition, Google DeepMind’s artificial intelligence program AlphaGo came under the spotlight with its unexpected moves in Go games against Lee Se-dol in March, 2016.This helped many agree that the fourth industrial revolut

April 25, 2017

Korean shares up in late morning trade

South Korean stocks traded higher late Tuesday morning, led by gains in tech and autos.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index advanced 9.11 points, or 0.42 percent, to 2,182.85 as of 11:15 a.m.Most large-cap stocks were mixed across the board. Top market cap Samsung Electronics rose 1.84 percent, while SK hynix, a major chipmaker, shed 1.15 percent.Hyundai Motor, the No. 1 automaker, gained 2.12 percent and its smaller affiliate, Kia Motors, fell 0.2 percent.SK Innovation, the No. 1 ref

April 25, 2017

Foreign buying boosts Korean benchmark index

Foreign investors bought South Korean stocks for a third straight session, fueling expectations that the country's benchmark index could break this year's record high, brokerage data showed Tuesday.Foreign buying between Thursday and Monday came to nearly 700 billion won ($617 million), according to data from Korea Exchange, the local bourse operator. Foreigners' buying spree of local stocks came despite heightened tensions on the Korean Peninsula over North Korea's missile and nuclear weapons p

April 25, 2017