Ant Group-backed financial technology firm Kakao Pay is facing renewed scrutiny ahead of its upcoming initial public offering as South Korea’s tech crackdown shows no signs of abating. Regulators’ tightening grip on online financial platforms puts Kakao Pay, known for its mobile payment app interoperable with Korea’s popular messenger app KakaoTalk, under mounting pressure to revise its prospectus again to scale down its fintech service. The stock market debut of Kakao Pay,

The Export-Import Bank of Korea said Wednesday it will offer more than $300 million in loans to the Egyptian government’s railway modernization project. The state-run policy lender plans to supply a combined $312.2 million for the African nation through the “Economic Development Cooperation Fund” as well as the “Economic Development Promotion Facility.”  Launched in 1987, the EDCF is aimed at helping poor and less developed countries by providing low-inter

The National Pension Service, Korea‘s largest public pension scheme, has 1.57 trillion won ($1.33 billion) exposure to stocks of what was labeled as “war crimes companies” during the World War 2, data showed Sunday. NPS was directly investing some 880 billion won in companies suspected to have contributed to Japanese ruling of the Korean Peninsula during Korea’s colonial era as of February, according to data compiled by the ruling Democratic Party of Korea‘s lawma

Financial watchdog defies court ruling to hold financial institutions responsible for failing to protect consumers

Shinhan Bank said Friday that it has acquired a minority stake in a local information and communication technology solutions and services provider to bolster its partnership for development of a new corporate banking platform. Shinhan Bank acquired a 1.97 percent stake worth 72.3 billion won ($61.4 million) in Douzone Bizon for a strategic partnership, which would allow the lender to utilize the ICT solutions firm’s corporate accounting and e-commerce data. Shinhan and Douzone Bizon ha

The Bank of Korea (BOK) said Friday it has injected a smaller amount of bank notes into circulation this year than a year earlier ahead of the Chuseok fall harvest holiday as private consumption has slumped amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The BOK provided a net 4.8 trillion won ($4.08 billion) worth of bills to financial institutions during the 10 working days before the holiday, down 4.8 percent compared with the same period last year. This year's Chuseok holiday, the Korean equivalent of Thanksgiv

Female golfers will gather Friday to play in a Korea Ladies Professional Golf Association tournament hosted by OK Savings Bank, which returned this year after being canceled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The KLPGA’s OK Savings Bank Pak Se-ri Invitational – which takes its name after the legendary South Korean golfer – is scheduled from Friday to Sunday at Sejong Silkriver Country Club & Gallery in the city of Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province. Some 120 playe

  A green fund jointly invested in by two South Korean banking giants -- KB and Shinhan-- will partly finance a renewable energy project in Sweden, officials said Thursday.  The financial holding firms invested a combined 80 billion won ($68.4 million) in the Global Green Energy Partnership Fund set up in April last year. Korea Midland Power, Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power and Sprott Korea Investment also joined the fund designed to facilitate development of renewable energy across

Fubon-backed Hyundai Card said Wednesday that it has “no plan” to carry out an initial public offering, despite heated market anticipation for the firm’s market debut over the last two years. “We do not have a plan to carry out an IPO,” a Hyundai Card official told The Korea Herald. "Regarding the Fubon-Affinity deal, it was made without an IPO in mind, it was a different alternative." The credit card firm was under an IPO mandate stipulated in a contra

Rich people living outside the Seoul area are rushing to buy apartments in the capital city to secure real estate as a means for stable investment, data showed Tuesday. According to the Korea Real Estate Board, the number of apartments bought by people residing outside of Seoul accounted for 25.3 percent of the total 131,996 apartments purchased in the city as of July. Compared to 19.7 percent in July 2017, the purchasing spree of cash-rich non-Seoul residents has accelerated, market insiders

Korea Development Bank’s Chairman Lee Dong-gull called on the government to take down the antitrust hurdles standing in the way of proposed mergers, which he said are crucial for businesses to survive. Lee leads the main creditor behind the business integration of Korea’s flagship air carriers Korean Air Lines and Asiana Airlines, as well as the integration of the world’s largest shipbuilders Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering and Hyundai Heavy Industries -- both base

　Retail investors bought more than 1 trillion won ($854 billion) worth of Kakao shares for three days from Wednesday to Friday, when they fell 15 percent amid record short-selling triggered by mounting concerns over tightening regulations.   The country’s fifth-biggest in market capitalization has been targeted for massive short selling due to a rapid price fall last week over the political move to regulate platform giants,  Foreign investors also dumped shares worth 749.8 bill

Government aims to complete sale of its share in Woori within the year

The Export-Import Bank of Korea on Thursday held a joint seminar with the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy to discuss business opportunities in Southeast and South Asia.  The event was aimed at supporting domestic companies’ entry to four major countries in the region -- Indonesia, Vietnam, India and Bangladesh -- which have come into the limelight in the wake of the government’s “New Southern Policy,” the state-run bank said in a statement. 

Standard Chartered Bank Korea has named Lee Eun-hyung, former journalist and ex-spokesperson of the Trade Ministry, as the new chair of its board, the lender said Thursday. Lee replaced Oh Jong-nam, a former adviser at local law firm Kim & Chang who was the board chair for three years. Lee’s term as the board chair ends Sept. 2022. She is the first female chair of the board, the bank said, noting that the decision was to reflect the growing demand for gender diversity in the boardro