Seoul-based Shinhan BNP Paribas Asset Management said Tuesday it has started to work as a fund manager for the National Health Insurance Service’s 1.4 trillion won ($1.14 billion) alternative investment for four years.  Shinhan BNP Paribas is one of the two lead fund managers, along with fellow Seoul-based investment house KB Asset Management. The two partners, selected in late April, will manage 700 billion won of assets each and choose more external partners to join their funds of

Seoul-based Hanwha Asset Management said Tuesday it is betting on new growth opportunities of companies dedicated to e-commerce, data infrastructure and health care by creating a fund investing in such stocks at home and abroad. The strategy comes amid consumer concerns about face-to-face contact amid the worldwide coronavirus outbreak, which rather translates into higher demand for companies in such sectors, company officials said. The demand stems from changes in people’s lifestyle,

South Korea’s same-day laundry service startup Laundrygo said Tuesday it had raised a 17 billion won ($13.9 million) series B round funding from multiple venture capital houses, amid growing demand for daily life services offered without physical contact in the pandemic era. New investors in the latest round include Korea Investment Partners, Aju IB Investment, KT Investment, Samsung Venture Investment, DS Asset Management. Existing investors Altos Ventures and Hana Ventures also joined

The rate of bailout funds recouped from companies that borrowed from the government since the 1997 Asian financial crisis rose 0.1 percent in the first quarter to 69.3 percent, the country’s financial regulator said Monday. As of end-March, the government had retrieved a total of 116.8 trillion won out of the 168.7 trillion won extended to companies struggled to survive in the 1997 and 2008 financial crises, according to the Financial Services Commission. The retrieval of taxpayers&rsq

South Korean held 3.9 credit cards on average last year, data showed Sunday, as credit card holdings in the country continue to increase as more people use credit cards as their preferred payment method. There were 110.98 million credit cards in South Korea as of end-2019, up 5.92 million from a year earlier, according to the Credit Finance Association. South Korea's economically active population, or the number of people aged 15 years or older who are willing to work, held 3.9 credit cards

With South Korea’s sovereign wealth fund sparking a media debate over its investment in marijuana producers, some experts here said Wednesday that the case can hardly be seen as breaching its commitment to socially and environmentally responsible investing. Marijuana production itself cannot be the target of criticism, although it carries a heavy social stigma in Korea where the recreational use of marijuana is banned. Even if the investment was made by sovereign wealth fund Korea Investm

One Equity Partners, a spinoff of JPMorgan dedicated to middle market investment, is reportedly looking to unload part of its stake in South Korea’s drug distributor Celltrion Healthcare through a block trade for roughly 350 billion won ($283.6 million). The price of some 4 million Celltrion Healthcare shares, a 2.6 percent stake, was set at between 85,000 won and 87,000 won per share after the market closed Tuesday, according to news reports. The price was lower than the Tuesd

Lending rates on fresh loans extended by banks in South Korea dropped sharply from a month earlier in April, central bank data showed Wednesday, apparently due to stimulus measures that supplied massive funds to businesses hit by the new coronavirus outbreak. The average interest rate on fresh bank loans came to 2.8 percent in the month, down 11 basis points from 2.91 percent the previous month, according to preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). The BOK slashed the base interest rate

Overseas card spending by South Koreans dropped at the fastest rate in over a decade in the first three months of this year on a sharp decline in the number of outbound travelers caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, central bank data showed Tuesday. The overall amount of money spent overseas by South Koreans using cards came to about $3.6 billion in the January-March period, down 23 percent from $4.68 billion in the same period last year, according to the data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). It mar

KB Kookmin Bank was named the best financial company last year in the overall corporate assessment, a survey showed Monday.  According to local corporate tracker CEO Score, the South Korea lender topped the list of the country’s top 108 financial companies with assets over 2 trillion won in six categories -- financial group, commercial bank, insurer, brokerage house, credit card company and savings bank. The survey measured each company’s commitment to corporate growth, job c

State-run lender Industrial Bank of Korea and its New York branch have been fined $86 million by the Attorney General’s Office for allegedly failing to manage their anti-money laundering program, documents and local reports showed Monday. The bank’s apparent decision to delay the upgrade of the program for nearly a decade, eventually led to its failure to detect transactions that violated US sanctions against Iran, settlement documents between IBK and the Attorney General’s O

Seoul-based KB Asset Management said Monday it has launched a fund that targets blue chips listed in the US stock exchanges. The open-ended fund is raising funds from South Korean retail investors and is expected to invest in US firms that generate stable income supported by their new growth engine, such as Amazon, Apple and Alphabet. At least 70 percent of the funds will go to large-cap stocks, KB Asset said. “The US is taking the lead in new growth engine industries, and is expected

South Korea’s financial regulator said Sunday it will allow customers to swap their online bank accounts among first- and second-tier financial institutions for handling monthly payments. Starting Tuesday, those who wish to switch payment accounts can apply at the bank they wish to deal with or at the Pay Info website, run by the Korea Financial Telecommunications & Clearings Institute, Financial Services Commission officials said. The service, launched in October 2015, simplified t

South Korea’s private equity house Hahn & Co. and Hana Financial Group have agreed to buy a 100 percent stake in H-Line Shipping, former dry bulk cargo arm of bankrupt carrier Hanjin Shipping, for 1.8 trillion won ($1.45 billion), according to sources on Sunday. The two firms will create a project fund for the leveraged buyout of H-Line Shipping, which is now fully owned by another fund of Hahn & Co. Under the plan, nearly 45 percent of the acquisition cost will be leveraged. T

KEB Hana Bank and Woori Bank said Friday they have appealed the levying of penalties by state financial authorities on the lenders' improper sale of derivatives-linked products.     The two lenders have raised an objection to the Financial Services Commission (FSC), which imposed fines of 19.71 billion won ($16 million) on Woori Bank and 16.78 billion won on KEB Hana Bank on Jan. 30. "We filed the objection to the financial authorities as we want the court to review