Korea Investment affiliates pursue spinoff merger

Korea Investment Management and Korea Investment Value Asset Management are pursuing a spinoff merger. The two companies said in regulatory filings Thursday that their boards had separately approved a merger agreement. Under the agreement, Korea Investment Management will spin off its securities fund and money market fund businesses and merge them into Korea Investment Value Asset Management. The companies plan to hold an extraordinary general meeting on Sept. 11 to approve the spinoff merger. T

2026-08-27 20:14:21:00

Illegal short selling suspicions reported to FSS rise

The number of suspected illegal short selling cases reported to South Korea’s financial regulator has risen steadily in recent years, as a new system allows authorities to monitor institutional investors’ short selling activity in real time. The increase has been driven in part by the launch of its naked short selling detection system, known as NSDS, but market watchers say authorities should move faster to investigate cases, impose sanctions and recover illicit gains. The Financial Supervisory

2026-08-27 20:04:45:00

South Korea retail investor deposits fall below 100 trillion won

South Korean investors’ deposits fell below 100 trillion won ($72.4 billion) again, while margin debt, a measure of leveraged investing, climbed back above 33 trillion won. Investor deposits stood at 98.92 trillion won as of Wednesday, down 3.62 trillion won from the previous session, according to the Korea Financial Investment Association. It was the first time deposits had fallen below 100 trillion won in two weeks, since Aug. 12, when they stood at 99.98 trillion won. The deposits had risen a

2026-08-27 20:02:10:00

Mirae Asset chief says investment, not dividends, builds winners

Mirae Asset Financial Group Chairman Park Hyeon-joo rejects criticism that disappointing shareholder returns are weighing on Samsung Electronics and SK hynix shares, arguing that investment and corporate fundamentals matter more. “Saying a stock falls because the company does not pay enough dividends is a weak argument,” Park said Wednesday at a dinner with employees of Digital X, formerly Korbit, Korea’s first cryptocurrency exchange acquired and renamed by Mirae Asset Securities in July. “What

2026-08-27 14:40:46:00

Why Korea’s financial watchdogs want to stay in Seoul

South Korea wants to move another wave of public institutions out of the capital region. But unions representing financial regulators and policy bodies warn that decentralization could slow crisis response, weaken oversight and drive skilled employees out. The dispute is intensifying as the government prepares the second phase of its decadeslong effort to spread jobs and economic activity beyond Seoul. A road map initially expected in September may now come in October or November, as the governm

2026-08-26 18:06:55:00

UK investors lead Korean stock sell-off as US funds keep buying

Foreign investors pulled sharply out of South Korean equities in July, with UK investors leading a massive stock sell-off even as US investors remained net buyers, data showed Friday. According to data released by the Financial Supervisory Service, foreign investors net sold 31.7 trillion ($22.9 billion) won worth of listed stocks in July, extending their net-selling streak to seven months. Foreign selling was concentrated on the country's main bourse Kospi, with investors net selling 30.8 trill

2026-08-21 16:06:07:00

Kakao Mobility files for $1b US IPO as TPG seeks exit

Kakao Mobility has moved closer to a potential US stock market debut after reportedly filing confidential IPO documents with US regulators, in a listing expected to raise about $1 billion and provide an exit for its second-largest shareholder, TPG. Citing a report by capital markets publication IFR, IPO market data provider IPOX said Thursday that Kakao Mobility submitted a draft registration statement to the US Securities and Exchange Commission in June. Bank of America, Morgan Stanley and UBS

2026-08-20 14:54:47:00

NPS must lead Korea’s governance reset: expert

South Korea still has a long way to go to eliminate the Korea discount, with the National Pension Service positioned to drive the next phase of corporate governance reform, governance specialist Park Yoo-kyung said. Park spent 17 years overseeing responsible investment and corporate governance in the Asia-Pacific region at APG, the asset manager for Dutch pension fund ABP. She currently serves as a board member and audit committee chair at the Tara Climate Foundation. She has also been nominated

2026-08-19 15:35:42:00

Woori to merge Tongyang, ABL into W55tr life insurer

Woori Financial Group said Tuesday it will merge Tongyang Life Insurance and ABL Life Insurance into a 55 trillion won ($39 billion) insurer, with the combined company targeted for launch in the second half of 2027. The merger represents a major expansion of Woori’s insurance business as the group seeks to reduce its reliance on banking and build stronger nonbank operations. Woori plans to develop the combined insurer into one of its core businesses and a new growth engine. The financial group a

2026-08-18 14:55:49:00

Samsung ‘Ghost shares’ ruling raises cost of brokerage control failures

A Supreme Court ruling against Samsung Securities over its 2018 “ghost shares” scandal has raised the stakes for Korea’s brokerages, showing that internal control failures can trigger civil liability to investors as well as regulatory penalties and trading losses. The top court on Wednesday ordered Samsung Securities to pay about 1.86 billion won ($1.31 million) in damages to the National Pension Service, upholding the compensation awarded by a lower court. The NPS had initially sought 29.9 bill

2026-08-17 14:53:10:00