JB Financial Group said Monday it has launched a brokerage unit through its newly acquired Morgan Stanley Gateway Securities, a midsized brokerage firm headquartered in Hanoi, Vietnam. It has changed the company name to JB Securities Vietnam as part of a move to officially start operations, the group added.  Earlier in April, the banking group paid for its 100 percent stake in MSGS -- previously owned by global investment bank Morgan Stanley -- and recently received final approval from

Market Aug. 31, 2020

Strengthened rules on social distancing imposed in an utmost effort to curb the resurgence of COVID-19 may drag down South Korea’s real economy, including private consumption, industrial output and employment, experts said Sunday.  As cluster infections are tied to enclosed areas such as coffeehouses, restaurants and indoor fitness centers, the government has decided to extend the current Level 2 social distancing for one more week until Sept. 6 in Seoul and the surrounding area, w

Economy Aug. 30, 2020

Riding the rapid digital transformation trend in the financial sector triggered by the coronavirus pandemic, Citibank Korea said Sunday it will ramp up contactless wealth management services. The bank will hold a series of online seminars, titled “Citi Webinar On-Air,” in the second half of this year -- categorized into three sections. One of the programs, “Open Seminars” invites all clients every other week to its YouTube channel, where it will share its outlook on g

Market Aug. 23, 2020

In response to a deepening economic slump due to the recent resurgence of COVID-19 cases, South Korea on Thursday said it will keep providing financial lifelines for coronavirus-hit small business owners. “Due to a second wave of the coronavirus pandemic, a growing number of small business owners are likely to be in need of cash despite the government’s initial support programs,” Kim Yong-beom, first vice minister of finance, said in a meeting with related officials held at

Economy Aug. 21, 2020

South Korea will share its 20-year economic development history of overcoming the middle-income trap, government officials said Thursday. According to the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the World Bank Korea office and state-run Korea Development Institute will publish a collaborative research paper titled “Korea: Connecting Innovation and Technology to Development” early next year.  The move came as the World Bank Group has requested the Korean government to share its hist

Economy Aug. 20, 2020

South Korea’s major banks are expected to extend due dates on interest payments and loan installments worth more than 39 trillion won ($32.8 billion won) combined, in line with the government’s efforts to reduce the financial burden affecting coronavirus-battered citizens and businesses. According to data compiled by the country’s five key lenders -- KB Kookmin, Shinhan, Hana, Woori and NH NongHyup -- the combined amount of deferred interest and installments from early Febru

Market Aug. 18, 2020

Korean banks’ personal credit loans extended to individuals have continued to soar in August, as the government tightened mortgage loan regulations to stabilize the overheated housing market, data showed Monday. Outstanding balance of personal credit loans at five major lenders here -- KB Kookmin Bank, Shinhan Bank, Hana Bank, Woori Bank and NH Bank -- came to nearly 121 trillion won ($102 billion won) as of Thursday, up 1.28 trillion won from the previous month. Following the largest-

Market Aug. 17, 2020

Kakao founder Kim Beom-su snagged the No. 2 spot on the list of South Korea’s wealthiest businesspeople, with his stock assets rising by some 5 trillion won ($4.2 billion), industry data showed Monday. This puts him ahead of Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, and second only to Samsung Group Chairman Lee Kun-hee. Kim, who currently holds a 14.51 percent stake in Kakao, saw the value of his stock assets surpass 9 trillion won as of Friday, up 136.16 percent from 3.84 trillio

Market Aug. 17, 2020

The combined net profit of South Korean banks for the first half of this year dipped 17.5 percent on-year due to increased loan-loss provisions amid the coronavirus pandemic, data released by the Financial Supervisory Service showed Thursday.  According to the financial watchdog, the combined net profit of local banks for the January-June period preliminarily came to 6.9 trillion won ($ 5.82 billion), down 1.5 trillion won from the same period last year. The decline in net income came a

Market Aug. 13, 2020

South Korea’s main bourse Kospi on Tuesday crossed the 2,400-point mark in nearly 26 months, on retail and foreign investors’ buying spree. The bourse got off to a strong start at 2,396.11 -- up 9.73 points, or 0.41 percent -- from the previous session’s close and sharply gained 22.50 points, or 0.94 percent to reach 2,408.88 in early morning trading, extending its winning streak for the sixth consecutive session. It was the first time the index has moved above the 2,400-po

Market Aug. 11, 2020

South Korea is forecast to climb up three notches to ninth in global gross domestic product rankings this year, despite its negative growth of 3.3 percent in the second quarter, data showed Monday.  Asia’s fourth-largest economy is likely to see 1.8 percent decline in its nominal GDP to reach $1.54 trillion this year on the condition that the country circumvents a second wave of the coronavirus, according to data from Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The OECD

Economy Aug. 10, 2020

  After months of reeling under the coronavirus pandemic, the South Korean economy is showing signs of recovery upon the slower pace of decline in economic activity at home as well as in outbound shipments, a state-run think tank said Sunday. “South Korea’s economic slump has been alleviated as the spread of the new virus slowed down, fueling economic activity across industries,” the Korea Development Institute said in its monthly report on economic trends. It was the f

Economy Aug. 9, 2020

South Korea’s public debt is expected to surge until next year due to aggressive government spending to revive the sluggish local economy, according to the International Monetary Fund on Friday.  The IMF said the country’s general government debt-to-gross domestic product ratio -- an indicator of economic health and sustainability of government borrowing -- will surpass 46 percent this year, up 5.5 percentage points from 40.7 percent estimated last year. The pace of the ri

Economy Aug. 7, 2020

South Korea’s financial watchdog said Thursday it will hold a sanctions committee later this month concerning Hanwha Group’s insurance unit’s financial support for the conglomerate’s duty-free business, posing a threat to the company‘s digital transition drive.  According to the Financial Supervisory Service, Hanwha Life Insurance paid for the interior decoration of Hanwha TimeWorld’s duty-free shop at the 63 Building in Yeouido in Seoul in 2016. 

Market Aug. 6, 2020

The local real estate market appears not to be very excited about the government‘s conditional approval of turning old apartments into 50-story buildings, due to its condition of donating more than a half of leftover units for public use, experts said Wednesday. Responding to the housing supply shortage, the government has decided to build more than 130,000 residential units in the capital city and adjacent areas over the next eight years. One of the key measures is a public reconstruct

Market Aug. 5, 2020