Kyobo Life Insurance, South Korea’s third-largest life insurance firm by total assets, announced Tuesday it would seek an initial public offering by the second half of next year to raise capital in the face of new industrywide regulations to gauge capital requirement.The decision was made during a board of directors’ meeting Tuesday at 11 a.m. in Seoul. The volume of capital it will seek to raise has yet to be determined, the company added.Kyobo will become the sixth life insura

Market Dec. 11, 2018

The Korea Exchange, South Korea’s sole securities market operator, decided Monday to resume transactions of Samsung BioLogics shares, about a month after the company was slapped with a trading suspension on accusations of accounting misconduct. Following the decision, investors are allowed to trade Samsung BioLogics shares on the main bourse Kospi as per normal starting Tuesday. The KRX said in a release that BioLogics’ improving profitability overshadows concerns about business

Market Dec. 10, 2018

Woori Bank, South Korea’s fourth-largest commercial bank by total assets, has opened its fourth foreign banking center in Gimpo, Gyeonggi Province, according to the bank on Monday.  A foreign banking center is a specialized branch exclusively for foreign customers. They can open a bank account and receive financial services such as cross-border money transfers, currency exchange and card management.The branch opens weekdays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and on Sundays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Market Dec. 10, 2018

Foreign investors’ flight from the Korean securities market eased by the end of November, followed by signs of relief in stock performances, monthly data showed Monday.Foreign investors net purchased Korean stocks and bonds worth 447 billion won ($397.2 million) throughout November, ending a losing streak of two consecutive months, according to the latest data compiled by the Financial Supervisory Service. They net sold securities worth 1.3 trillion won in September and 4.9 trillion won in

Market Dec. 10, 2018

The Korea Exchange, the operator of the nation’s equity market, seeks to review this week the accounting misconduct of the country’s second-largest biotech company by market cap, which could result in the delisting of the company in the worst-case scenario. “The initial meeting timeline has not yet been fixed but it may take place as early as Monday,” an official from the bourse operator said Sunday.In early December, the KRX established a seven-member panel to look into

Market Dec. 9, 2018

When New York-based coworking space operator WeWork set foot in Seoul in August 2016 with its first office in the affluent Gangnam-gu district, the staff’s main task was to overcome uncertainties in the Korean market, where the concept of coworking spaces was new. Two years later, WeWork Korea is on a roll, tasked instead with meeting soaring demand for easier and trouble-free leases. Masterminding the leap forward in Asia’s fourth-largest economy is Kang Dong-jin, senior director of real estate

Industry Nov. 27, 2018

An investment management service that works through voice recognition will be added to Bixby, Samsung Electronics’ flagship artificial intelligence-based platform.Through voice commands, Bixby will not only be able to deliver company information, such as revenue and profit, from financial statements, but also invest in certain stocks or market sectors upon a user’s request.The development of the new Bixby service is set to be completed by the first half of 2019, according to financia

Market Nov. 23, 2018

Financial Services Commission Chairman Choi Jong-ku said Wednesday more risk-bearing initial public offerings in the Korean stock bourse are prerequisites for a breakthrough in the growth of Korean companies, calling it an “elemental role of the capital market.”“Ordinary companies draw investments through a cooperation between banks and a capital market,” Choi said in a meeting with representatives of Korean securities firms. “Startups and budding venture companies

Market Nov. 21, 2018

South Korea’s Financial Supervisory Service and the Korea Federation of Banks on Tuesday co-hosted a seminar to encourage South Korean financial institutions to advance into Thailand, a move in line with the Moon Jae-in administration’s New Southern Policy that aims to boost Korea-ASEAN economic ties. The Korean financial authorities invited representatives of the Bank of Thailand, the nation’s central bank and financial watchdog, to the KFB headquarters in Seoul to meet with K

Market Nov. 20, 2018

South Korea’s financial groups are facing potentially massive reshuffles of their executive teams as a majority of the incumbents at commercial lenders and their holding companies approach the end of their tenure at year-end. According to disclosures from the respective financial holding companies -- KB, Shinhan, KEB Hana, Woori and NH -- sweeping changes may be ahead for the new year. KB Financial Group will see 12 out of 16 executives, excluding auditors, end their terms in December. At

Market Nov. 19, 2018

South Korea’s capital city is poised to set up a state-sponsored financial infrastructure project aimed at lowering card payment-processing costs for small merchants. But there are already doubts about the plan’s sustainability due to the lack of a revenue model.The operation of what is called “Zero-Pay,” referring to near-zero payment-processing fees, will start in December, but the date of the launch has yet to be confirmed, according to state sponsors the Ministry of S

Market Nov. 18, 2018

Affiliates and subsidiaries of South Korea’s top 30 conglomerates spent a combined 64.9 trillion won ($57.3 billion) on acquiring business assets, such as facilities and projects for research and development, in the first three quarters of this year, data showed Sunday.  (Yonhap)The conglomerates’ volume of capital expenditure -- spending on tangible assets -- and operating expenses -- of intangible assets -- combined rose 10.9 percent compared to the first three quarters in 2017, according to d

Industry Nov. 18, 2018

Citibank Korea said Wednesday it plans to pay out an interim dividend worth some 827.5 billion won ($731.3 million) in cash to its Delaware-based US parent company Citibank Overseas Investment Corporation.  The payout to COIC, an indirect subsidiary of New York-based Citigroup, will be executed by end-2018, according to the US investment banking giant‘s Korean banking unit. The decision came after a board of directors’ meeting Wednesday attended by four outside directors. T

Market Nov. 15, 2018

South Korean nonprofit organization Banks Foundation for Young Entrepreneurs unveiled Wednesday plans to provide 345 billion won ($304.7 million) over three years to local startups to support their growth and job creation.  Of the total, 320 billion won will go to a new fund of venture capital funds managed by Korea Growth Investment Corp. The volume of subordinate funds will amount to a combined 1.6 trillion won asset for budding Korean startups. According to KGI’s plan in October, m

Market Nov. 14, 2018