The market watchdog Financial Supervisory Service will launch a three-week comprehensive inspection of Samsung Securities on Monday, officials said Thursday. The comprehensive inspection on the nation’s leading brokerage will be the first of its kind since April 2018, when the firm was under FSS inspection over a dividend fiasco in which it mistakenly paid stocks to employees as dividends instead of cash dividends. During the planned inspection, the financial authorities will mainly look

Market Jan. 7, 2021

South Korea’s top financial regulator has vowed to eliminate regulatory hurdles and outdated rules that hinder local financial companies from rolling out innovative services. “The year 2021 is a crucial time for the country as we need to overcome the economic fallout from COVID-19 and carry out future strategies for taking a lead in the post-COVID era,” Financial Services Commission Vice Chairman Doh Kyu-sang said during an online meeting on the future outlook and competitiv

Economy Jan. 6, 2021

If the aging population continues to rise, the ratio of value-added taxes to the nation’s gross domestic product will sharply drop, raising calls for the government’s tax rises to meet the costs of supporting the economy, a recent study showed Tuesday. A value-added tax is a type of indirect tax levied on consumption spending on goods and services by the government, with the purpose of raising funds to operate public programs, including construction of social infrastructures or soci

Economy Jan. 5, 2021

The Industrial Bank of Korea said Sunday it will officially launch and operate a local subsidiary in Yangon, the largest city of Myanmar as early as this month, which marks its third overseas unit, following its operation in China and Indonesia.  Branded as IBK Bank Myanmar, its new overseas subsidiary was designed to handle various banking services, including corporate financing, personal financial management as well as foreign exchange business, officials said.  Through the newly

Market Jan. 3, 2021

US biotech firm Moderna is slated to provide 40 million doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine as early as March, according to news reports Friday. The move came after the Korean government on Thursday inked a deal with the company to purchase vaccine doses for 20 million or more people. "Under the terms of the proposed agreement, deliveries would begin in May 2021,” the company said in a statement. "COVID-19 vaccine is not currently approved for use in South Korea, and the co

Social Affairs Jan. 1, 2021

The ratio of the total market capitalization of listed firms on the benchmark Kospi to the nation’s gross domestic product hit an all-time high last year amid a retail stock fad, according to the Korea Exchange on Friday.  The Kospi market cap amounted to 1,980.5 trillion won ($1.82 trillion) as of Wednesday, the last trading day of 2020, hitting 104.2 percent of the year’s estimated nominal GDP of 1,900 trillion won, it said. The size of the stock market compared to the rea

Business Jan. 1, 2021

South Korea’s top financial regulator said Wednesday it will clear regulatory hurdles in the new year to foster convergence between finance and new technologies. According to the Financial Services Commission’s key policy tasks for the financial sector in 2021, the authority will revise its financial regulatory system in July next year to allow local banks to operate nonfinancial services like food delivery via their mobile applications.  “Discussions and research are un

Economy Dec. 30, 2020

A plan to sell some of the government’s stake in Woori Financial Group this year foundered due to the high market volatility triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic, the financial regulator said Wednesday. Earlier this year, a sub-committee of the Financial Service Commission, which controls the sale of state-owned firms and shares, said it would start selling off Korea Deposit Insurance Corp.’s stake in the bank in the first half of 2020.  The plan was to sell the entire stake in

Market Dec. 30, 2020

The Korean Federation of Community Credit Cooperatives said Tuesday it has launched Saemaul Geumgo, a community based financial institution supervised by the KFCC, in a rural village in Laos.  In partnership with the Lao government, the KFCC has helped residents of Km52 village located in Phonhong district of the captial city Vientiane establish Saemaul Geumgo in the region by offering management support of its financial systems as well as business models. Officials from the Lao governmen

Market Dec. 29, 2020

Shinhan Bank will accept passports when verifying the personal identification of its mobile customers, as part of its efforts to expand access to the bank’s contactless services to foreign and younger customers, officials said Tuesday. Customers had been required to present ID cards or driver’s licenses to access financial services, including opening a bank account or subscribing to savings products. With passports added to the list, younger customers and foreign customers will als

Market Dec. 29, 2020

Asian stocks and credit bonds are forecast to remain bullish next year amid a recovering global economy due to the COVID-19 vaccine progress, according to a Standard Chartered Bank Korea report Monday.  “Global economic activity, which has been halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, will normalize next year thanks to the vaccine distribution,” the bank‘s report said in regards to 2021 financial market prospects.  “As the global economy is expected to rebound, risky

Market Dec. 28, 2020

The chief of South Korea’s financial market watchdog said Wednesday he feels sorry for causing public concern over the massive fiasco surrounding Lime Asset Management, which the regulator‘s employee was embroiled in. “As the head of FSS, I feel heavy responsibility for the issue and apologize for our employee’s involvement in the scandal. We will take the recent fiasco as an opportunity to enhance internal control over irregularities through measures to improve employ

Economy Dec. 25, 2020

  South Korea's central bank on Thursday raised alert about escalating risks to the financial system, pointing out household and corporate loans that have continued to surge in the wake of a protracted economic slump. As of end-September, outstanding loans of local households rose 7 percent on-year to 1,682.1 trillion won ($1.52 trillion). Their debt burden sharply increased with the households’ debt to disposable income ratio reaching 171.3 percent, up 10.7 percentage points from th

Economy Dec. 24, 2020

NongHyup Financial Group has nominated Son Byung-hwan, CEO of its banking unit as the sole candidate for group chairman, officials said Tuesday. If the nomination is approved at a shareholders’ meeting slated for the end of month, Son is set to take the top post, which has been left vacant since late last month. Former Chairman Kim Kwang-soo resigned to serve as the new chief of the Korea Federation of Banks. Son was nominated for his expertise in digital finance as well as his leadershi

Market Dec. 22, 2020

JB Financial Group’s commercial banking units -- Jeonbuk Bank and Kwangju Bank -- are strengthening their capacity to integrate robotic process automation technologies within banking services, the group said Monday. RPA uses artificial intelligence and machine learning software to automate repetitive business processes. Jeonbuk Bank has recently extended the use of RPA, from the bank’s headquarters to local branches, in a step to reduce employees working hours and provide better se

Market Dec. 21, 2020