Apple Inc. was denied its renewed request for a ban on U.S. sales of Samsung Electronics Co.’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet computer while the case is still before a federal court of appeals.U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh in San Jose, California, said Monday that she does not have jurisdiction to issue a preliminary injunction because the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington has not issued a mandate yet. The judge said Apple can renew its request once the court in Washington issue

Kumho Asiana Group’s unit has undergone tough restructuring for more than 2 yearsCreditors of Kumho Industrial Co. will soon finalize the takeover deal under which a consortium led by IBK Securities is set to acquire a large portion of Kumho Asiana Group’s transportation unit.The imminent sale comes more than two years after Kumho Industrial was placed under joint-management by creditors including Woori Bank for business normalization in late 2009.Both sides are likely to reach a final consensus

More than half of financial company boards will be made up of outside directors who meet stricter qualifications, according to a new bill. The government reviewed and approved on Tuesday a proposal regarding the governance structure of financial companies at a Cabinet meeting presided over by President Lee Myung-bak. If the bill passes into law, financial companies will have to fill more than 50 percent of their boards with directors that come from outside the company. The role of the board will

Richard Hill, chief executive of Standard Chartered Bank Korea, obtained the Korean name “Koo Je-il” last week.Industrial Bank of Korea chief executive Cho Jun-hee suggested the name after Standard Chartered Bank’s former name “Jeil,” which means “first,” during a dinner meeting of the chiefs of 14 banks on May 29.“Koo” is the Korean pronunciation of the Chinese character for “hill.” Cho presented the Korean name to Hill in appreciation of the British CEO’s constant efforts to understand the Kor

The Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency said on Tuesday that it will seek to become a “global business platform” for Korean companies wishing to operate in business overseas.Speaking to reporters at an event to mark the 50th anniversary of KOTRA, its president Oh Young-ho said KOTRA’s ultimate goal is to become a global business platform. “The globe is shifting toward globalization. Korean small and medium-sized firms need a ‘platform’ to get on the express train called globalization, and we

Credit rating agency says its outlook for Korea’s banking system remains stableThere have been no fundamental changes in Korea’s economic prospects since Moody’s Investors Service raised its outlook for the country in April amid the European debt crisis, a senior vice president for the company in Asia said Tuesday.“Nothing fundamental has changed since we raised the outlook,” Tom Byrne, senior vice president of Moody’s sovereign risk group for Asia, told reporters here.“The drop in demand from E

Two of the world’s top liquid-crystal display producers, Merck and LG Chem, will receive a prestigious industry award on Wednesday for their joint development of a new cutting-edge display component called “3-D FPR.”The U.S.-based Society for Information Display, or SID, will award the companies with the silver in the display component category at the SID Display Week 2012, which opened last Sunday in Boston, Massachusetts. Also known the 3-D Film-Patterned Retarder, the device incorporates liqu

Starbucks Corp., the world’s largest coffee-shop operator, agreed to buy Bay Bread LLC for $100 million in cash, adding to its expanding portfolio of non-coffee businesses.The acquisition of San Francisco-based Bay Bread and its La Boulange brand will decrease full-year profit by 2 cents a share, the Seattle-based company said in a statement today. The French-themed bakery sells homemade granola,

The Apple iPad extended its lead in the global market for tablet computers at the start of 2012 while Amazon's Kindle Fire flamed out after a sizzling introduction, a survey showed Monday.The ABI Research survey showed overall global sales of media tablets amounted to 18.2 million in the first three months of the year, up 185 percent from a year earlier, but down 33 percent from the fourth quarter

The chairman of the troubled Korea Savings Bank was arrested Tuesday on charges of embezzlement and stealing bank funds as part of a probe into alleged irregularities by suspended savings banks, prosecutors said. Yoon Hyun-soo, 59, was accused of issuing some 150 billion won ($127.6 million) in illegal loans to a subsidiary of Taihan Electric Wire Co. and embezzling an unspecified amount of bank f

South Korea's antitrust watchdog said Tuesday that it has increased the number of companies on its watch list by nine that limits mutual investments and loan guarantees.The Fair Trade Commission said the number of corporate affiliates on the list stood at 1,850 that belonged to 63 private business groups and large public companies as of Friday, compared with 1,841 in the previous month.Twelve comp

South Korea's top home appliance manufacturers said Tuesday that their three-dimensional (3D) smart TVs have won eco-friendly certifications from leading European technical service review organizations.Samsung Electronics Co. said its flagship 55-inch ES8000 model won TUV Rheinland Group's coveted Green Mark for energy efficiency and low carbon emissions in the production stage. It added its Itali