South Korean banks have started to temporarily halt their home-backed loans under pressure from financial authorities seeking to rein in the nation’s snowballing household debt, sources said Friday. NH NongHyup Bank, one of the country’s top five commercial banks, decided to suspend all mortgage lending from next week until Nov. 30. Switching and renewals of mortgages will be halted as well. Ex...

South Korea’s NH NongHyup Bank said Thursday it is collaborating with Samsung Electronics to accelerate digital transformation of its financial businesses. One of the country‘s top commercial banks and the global tech behemoth signed a memorandum of understanding on Wednesday that will help NH NongHyup efficiently utilize key emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, blockchain and ...

Hyundai Heavy Industries Group has closed an acquisition deal of a 30 percent stake in South Korean machinery manufacturer Doosan Infracore for 850 billion won ($722.5 million), a filing submitted to the Financial Supervisory Service showed Thursday. The business conglomerate‘s midtier holding company Hyundai Genuine has bought 23.4 million common shares in Doosan Infracore from the debt-saddled...

Foreign currency deposits at banks in South Korea fell in July from the previous month as individuals withdrew their FX holdings, central bank data showed Thursday. Outstanding foreign currency-denominated deposits held by residents amounted to $92.13 billion as of end-July, down $910 million from June, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK). Residents include local citizens, foreigners staying h...

The delinquency rate for South Korean banks' won-denominated loans fell to a record low in June due to a decline in overdue corporate loans, the financial regulator said Thursday. The rate for bank loans more than 30 days overdue stood at 0.25 percent at the end of June, down from 0.32 percent the previous month, according to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS). Compared with a year earlier...

BlackRock Real Assets said Wednesday it has signed an agreement to acquire an undisclosed amount of equity stake in South Korean solar aggregator and operator Brite Energy Partners. The US-based investment firm aims to inject more than $100 million capital over time to fund the acquisition and construction of solar assets of over 350 megawatts in power generation capacity. All projects developed...

The National Pension Service, South Korea’s public pension scheme, divested its entire 11.5 million shares in General Electric as of end-June, a regulatory filing showed Wednesday. The world’s third-largest pension fund no longer held a share in Boston-based conglomerate General Electric, which was the 66th-largest stake it built with a $151.6 million valuation in March, according to quarterly f...

Danggeun Market, operator of hyperlocal e-commerce app Karrot, said Wednesday it has fetched a $162 million funding in a series D round with an enterprise valuation of $2.7 billion. The latest round of funding, led by Hong Kong-based later-stage venture capital house DST Global, was joined by Aspex Management and Reverent Partners. Also taking part in the fundraising were existing investors Good...

South Korea’s financial watchdog will launch an investigation into electronic payment service providers and their operations amid growing concerns over consumer protection in a row involving local discount app operator Mergeplus. The Financial Supervisory Service has been under fire for failing to monitor risks and eliminate legal gray areas on the back of fast-growing electronic payment service...

Dunamu, the operator of Korea’s largest cryptocurrency exchange Upbit, on Tuesday said it planned to unveil its own “travel rule” solution in September through its blockchain technology research arm Lambda256. The travel rule is a global standard imposed by the Financial Action Task Force, an intergovernmental anti-money laundering watchdog, on virtual asset service providers such as cryptocurre...

Citibank Korea is likely to make its long-awaited announcement for its retail business exit plan on Aug. 26, after confirming the strategy at a scheduled board meeting, an industry source said Tuesday. The South Korean subsidiary of the US-based global banking giant had initially said it would confirm the plan in July, but the decision-making process was delayed on apparent conflicts of interest...

South Korea’s NH NongHyup Bank said Tuesday it launched a virtual Dokdo branch, which customers can visit on its mobile app and subscribe to financial products tied to the nation’s easternmost islets. The virtual space, designed to celebrate the bank’s 60th anniversary, offers users of All One Bank app with Dokdo-themed environmental, social and governance-related financial products. Users can a...

Citibank Korea Inc., the South Korean unit of Citigroup Inc., will decide on its exit plan for its retail banking unit next week, an industry source said Tuesday. Citibank Korea will hold a board meeting Aug. 26 during which the lender will confirm how to sell the retail banking division. In April, Citigroup said it will exit consumer banking operations in 13 markets, including South Korea, as ...

The blame game between financial authorities and discount app operator Mergeplus intensified Monday, leaving customers who bought coupons uncertain as to whether they would lose their money. Mergeplus launched Mergepoint, an electronic payment service, in 2018. Consumers can buy Mergepoints for 20 percent less than their face value, and use them in local retail franchises, convenience stores and...

NH NongHyup Bank said Thursday it has launched a branch office in London to make inroads into the UK’s banking industry, as part of the lender’s overseas business strategies aimed at expanding its global presence. “It is meaningful that (NH NongHyup Bank) has entered the UK market, Europe‘s major global finance center and the birthplace of financial cooperatives, in 2021, which marks its 60th an...