Mirae Asset Daewoo on Wednesday denied recent reports that the company is considering taking over SK Securities. A report on the previous day said that the company would push forward several takeovers to expand its equities and develop itself into a mega investment bank. It also predicted that SK Securities is the leading candidate as there were rumors that Mirae Asset Daewoo Chairman Park Hyeo...

Deloitte Anjin has named its new CEO Lee Jung-hee, who has been managing partner in Deloitte Tax group since 2010, the accounting firm said Wednesday. Lee will take the helm starting Thursday. The career accountant, known for his expertise as a corporate tax adviser for multinational companies, is expected to serve a 3-year term. Lee was nominated as a sole candidate for the chief executive in ...

KB Savings Bank will launch a simplified authorizing service next month, allowing users to access smartphone banking services without certificate verification or other security media. The service will enable customers who have downloaded KB Savings Bank’s smartphone application to open new bank accounts and utilize financial services with their personal identification numbers only. It can be us...

Investment by South Korean institutional investors into foreign bonds and stocks hit a record high at the end of March this year, official data showed Wednesday. The data suggested that appetite by South Korean insurers, brokerages and asset management firms for riskier assets in foreign countries improved amid record-low interest rates at home. The total holdings of foreign bonds and stocks by...

South Korean shares traded higher late Wednesday morning as foreign and institutional buyers scooped up big cap stocks amid a massive selling spree by individuals. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index added 9.42 points, or 0.4 percent, to 2,353.10 as of 11:20 a.m. The index opened lower on losses in market heavyweights, including market bellwether Samsung Electronics. However, the lo...

South Korean stocks started marginally lower Wednesday mainly on the back of losses in top-listed firms, analysts said. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index inched down 3.55 points, or 0.15 percent, to trade at 2,340.13 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Top-cap Samsung Electronics edged down 0.09 percent, with chipmaker SK hynix sliding 1.22 percent. Medical and insurance shares, ...

Samsung Asset Management and Capital Group teamed up to launch Tuesday a set of retirement income funds, which they said are expected to “meet Korean retirement needs.” The RIFs mark the first pension funds in South Korea that allow retirees to withdraw money from the funds. The four types of pension schemes by the asset management arm under Korea’s largest conglomerate were based on the US fina...

South Korean stocks ended slightly lower Tuesday as foreign investors and institutions offloaded large-cap stocks in an apparent move to lock in profits. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index shed 9.29 points, or 0.39 percent, to 2,343.68. Bae Sung-young, a market analyst at KB Securities Co., said institutions and foreign investors sold Sams...

The volume of non-performing loans have fallen to pre-global financial crisis levels following the completion of the government’s large-scale restructuring of Korea’s ailing shipbuilding and shipping industries, according to the Financial Supervisory Service on Tuesday. The FSS announced that non-performing loans held by local banks reached 23.7 trillion won ($21.1 billion), or 1.38 percent, at ...

A significant surge by the nation’s major market index was entirely driven by Samsung Electronics, and without the tech giant’s contribution, the benchmark index could have fallen, a study showed Tuesday. According to the report by Korea Capital Market Institute, a private research center on the nation’s stock market, the Korea Composite Stock Price Index saw an increase of 211 points over a yea...

The financial regulator said Tuesday it will apply tighter rules for mortgage loans to all mutual savings institutions starting next month, in the latest step to control fast-growing household debt. The tighter rules, which already have been applied to retail banks and other depository institutions, require borrowers to repay both interest and a part of principal until maturity. A total of 1,92...

Bank lending rates on new household loans inched down in April and interest rates paid by banks on new deposits also fell, central bank data showed Tuesday. The average interest rates on fresh household loans extended by local banks came to 3.41 percent in April, down 0.02 percentage point from the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea. The BOK data came amid South Korea's efforts to t...

South Korean stocks traded lower late Tuesday morning as foreign investors and institutions offloaded large-cap stocks in apparent move to lock in profits. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index lost 16.85 points, or 0.72 percent, to 2,336.12 as of 11:15 a.m. Kim Ye-eun, an analyst at Cape Investment & Securities, said foreign investors and institutions sold large-cap stocks in apparen...

South Korean stocks opened higher Tuesday on increased buying by foreigners and institutions. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index gained 1.03 points, or 0.04 percent, to 2,354.00 in the first 20 minutes of trading. Bae Sung-young, a market analyst at KB Securities Co., said the index moved in a tight range due to a lack of upside momentum. Large-cap stocks were mixed across the boa...

South Korea's Internet banking service rose at a fast clip in the first quarter with both the number of users and daily transactions reaching record highs, central bank data showed Tuesday. In the three months that ended on March 31, the number of Internet and smartphone banking service users came to 125.32 million, up 2.3 percent from the previous quarter, according to the data from the Bank of...