KB Financial Group has solidified its position as South Korea‘s top banking group in terms of earnings and market cap, on the back of higher-than-expected earnings in the fourth quarter of 2017 that led to a record-high yearly net income last year.Stock analysts have said the financial giant’s capability to carry out shareholder-friendly actions driven by its increase in capital, will stretch its lead in the domestic banking industry, ahead of Shinhan Financial Group that topped in 2

Market March 8, 2018

South Korean stock markets had a roller coaster day on Wednesday on foreign sell-offs, despite signs of inter-Korean rapprochement in the wake of South Korean envoys‘ meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un the previous day. Market watchers remained mixed on whether the North Korean momentum would lead to a long-term upward drive in the local stock markets,  On Wednesday, the top-tier stock market Kospi and the second-tier Kosdaq both fluctuated. Opening lower, both Kospi and Kos

Market March 7, 2018

The Korea Herald is publishing a series of interviews on promising startups in the financial technology industry. This is the 11th installment. - Ed.Since last year, South Korea’s financial watchdogs warned retail investors about crowdsourcing funds for peer-to-peer project finance, saying that their repayment capabilities could only be determined on projected cash flow without collateral.The high return -- often at above 10 percent -- that the instrument promises to the lenders, triggered

Market March 6, 2018

SK Holdings decided in a board meeting Monday to hand over the controlling stakes of its brokerage arm worth 51.5 billion won ($47.9 million), or 10 percent of the firm, to Seoul-based private equity firm J&W Partners.If the deal gets the nod from the Financial Services Commission and J&W Partners manages to acquire all the shares until February 2019, SK Group will be free of regulatory drag for failing to divest itself of a financial arm. SK Holdings, a major shareholder of SK Securitie

Market March 6, 2018

Prosecutors in South Korea have decided not to indict commercial bank KEB Hana Bank for offering preferential loans to Chung Yoo-ra, according to a news report Monday.Chung, 22, is a daughter of Choi Soon-sil, ex-president Park Geun-hye’s longtime confidante who was sentenced to 20 years behind bars in February for a corruption scandal which led to the impeachment of Park last March. KEB Hana Bank issued a standby letter of credit worth 386,600 euro ($476,200) to Chung in 2014, when she wa

Market March 5, 2018

This is the 51st in a series of articles analyzing major companies traded on the tech-heavy Kosdaq market. -- Ed.An upbeat forecast for the first quarter of this year appears to have catalyzed the bull run of Studio Dragon, the creator of South Korean megahit series such as “Misaeng,” “Guardian,” “Signal,” and most recently, “A Korean Odyssey.”Behind the forecast is the projected income from rights sales of latest hit series to global internet ente

Market March 4, 2018

President Moon Jae-in retained on Friday Lee Ju-yeol, the incumbent Bank of Korea Gov. and the head of Monetary Policy Committee, to serve another four-years for the nation‘s central bank, sending the market a sign that it will not pursue a drastic change in its monetary policy.Cheong Wa Dae said the decision to reinstate Lee as the BOK chief signifies Moon’s willingness to “ensure neutrality and independence” of the central bank.The reappointment came amid the South Kore

Market March 2, 2018

South Korea‘s top-tier stock market Kospi retreated 1 percent on Friday, while the local currency strengthened, in part on fears over heightening tariff threats by US President Donald Trump triggering a possible trade war.On Friday, the Kospi came close to breaching 2,400 mark by closed at 2,402.16, down 1 percent compared to the previous trading day. The market maintained a losing streak for three consecutive trading days since Tuesday. Korean stock markets closed on Thursday for a nation

Market March 2, 2018

For centuries, Korea has been a quake-free zone, but recent events have caused that to change. Of the 10 earthquakes in South Korea that registered 5.0 or higher on the Richter scale in its four decades of state measurement, half occurred after the 2011 Tohoku earthquake off the coast of Japan.The record 9.1-magnitude undersea quake, a subsequent seismic sea wave or tsunami and aftershocks have claimed over 15,000 lives in Japan. However, it also had an impact on tectonic activities in countries

Social Affairs March 2, 2018

South Korea has submitted a document hitting back at a claim by a US trade group representing its pharmaceutical industry that Korea’s drug pricing policies favor its domestic industry, ministries said Wednesday.The document was prepared by the Ministry of Health and Welfare and submitted Thursday to the US Trade Representative, a US counterpart in the bilateral free trade deal, by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, according to a ministry spokesperson. In the 36-page document submitted

Industry Feb. 28, 2018

Hyosung Chairman Cho Hyun-joon’s recent series of visits to Asian countries appears to be laying the ground for more business opportunities there. Cho has held talks with leading figures of Asian countries, including Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Feb. 18 and Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc on Feb. 8.Following Cho’s meeting with Modi, Hyosung announced a plan to build its first spandex plant in Maharashtra, India. The move is expected to serve as the “cornerstone” in penetrati

Industry Feb. 27, 2018

´South Korean brokerages’ combined yearly net profit in 2017 hit a 10-year high, mainly on the back of a stock market boom that led to an upshot in revenue from brokerage fees and trades of shares and derivatives, data showed Tuesday.The total net profit for the 55 securities firms came to 3.83 trillion won ($3.57 billion) in 2017, up 79.6 percent from a year prior, according to a preliminary set of data by the Financial Supervisory Service. The figure was the highest since 2007, whe

Market Feb. 27, 2018

South Korean financial firms’ assets under management hit a record high of 950 trillion won ($880.9 billion) in 2017, up 4.7 percent from the previous year, data showed Sunday.The hike in the volume of professionally managed assets was driven by a surge in private funds’ increase in property investment, as well as increased capital for discretionary investment in domestic shares and overseas bonds, according to preliminary data from the Financial Supervisory Service.Despite the recor

Market Feb. 25, 2018

Distributed ledgers like the blockchain system are increasingly setting a new standard for paperwork-free global banking in various financial areas, such as the management of a cash pool for currency exchanges or payments, as well as trade finance. Spearheading the trend to minimize and possibly eliminate the manual business process in interbank transactions is a technology called “smart contract,” through which records of direct transactions between parties can be protected on a dec

Market Feb. 25, 2018

Korean drugmaker Samsung BioLogics’ third plant has secured a manufacturing order worth at least 17.9 billion won ($16.6 million) from an undisclosed US pharmaceutical firm, according to the firm’s regulatory filing on Thursday. The contract is equal to roughly 6 percent of the Korean firm’s net revenue as of 2016, according to the disclosure. The order could increase in size to $148.2 million, depending on whether the US firm succeeds in bringing the drug to market. The US firm also may extend

Industry Feb. 22, 2018