South Korea's top financial regulator said Thursday that he will relax regulations on bank ownership in order to pave the way for information technology firms to invest in the untouched Internet-only bank sector.Under the current laws, an industrial company is banned from holding more than a 4 percent stake in a bank, and the company must have less than 2 trillion won in assets at the same time."It is time to consider lifting the restriction that draws a clear line between the industrial and fin

Volatility in the won-dollar exchange rate hit a three-year high in the first quarter of this year as the foreign exchange market seesawed due to speculation over a possible U.S. interest rate hike, central bank data showed Thursday.The daily foreign exchange variation of the won-dollar rate averaged 0.47 percent during the January-March period, marking the highest level since the fourth-quarter of 2011, when it hit 0.64 percent, according to the data compiled by the Bank of Korea.The figure ref

South Korean companies, led by bio and game firms, are seeking to go public on the local stock market this year to capitalize on the recent bullish run, the bourse operator said Thursday. Twenty companies have applied for the regulatory approval to make debuts on the main KOSPI and the tech-heavy KOSDAQ markets, sharply up from eight in the same period last year, according to the Korea Exchange.Among the four awaiting the KOSPI market debut are Innocean Worldwide Inc., Hyundai Motor Group's adve

A growing number of investors in South Korea are borrowing money to buy stocks amid a bull run in the local market, with the amount of such loans rising to the highest-ever level, data showed Thursday.The amount of money borrowed to buy stocks, so-called margin debt, reached 7.76 trillion won ($6.97 billion) as of Wednesday, breaking the previous record of 7.1 trillion in June 2007, according to the data compiled by the Korea Financial Investment Association.The comparable figure was 5.77 trilli

Earnings of South Korea's credit finance firms edged down 3 percent last year from a year earlier on a drop in commission and interest income amid a low rate trend, the financial watchdog said Thursday.The combined net income of 65 credit finance companies reached 1.05 trillion won ($957.3 million) in 2014, compared with 1.08 trillion won in the previous year, according to the Financial Supervisory Service.The companies include capital financing firms and leasing companies, but exclude credit ca

China said Wednesday that 57 economies have been accepted as founding members of the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.South Korea is among the founding members of the AIIB, which will set its basic rules of governance by the end of June and start operations by the end of this year. Azerbaijan, Israel, Iceland, Sweden, South Africa, Portugal and Poland became the last founding members as of Wednesday, according to a statement issued by the Chinese finance ministry. The AIIB, which a

The South Korean economy is expected to grow 3.1 percent this year amid weak demand at home and abroad and the country's central bank may conduct another rate cut to shore up the sagging economy, HSBC Holdings Plc. forecast Wednesday.The latest growth forecast for Asia's fourth-largest economy by the Hong Kong-based global financial giant is the same as its estimate made in late March and in November last year.In a press briefing in Seoul, Frederic Neumann, co-head of HSBC's Asian economics rese

South Korean stocks rose 0.39 percent Wednesday as global ample liquidity encouraged foreign investors to increase bets on the local equity market, analysts said. The South Korean won fell against the U.S. greenback.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index gained 8.24 points to end at 2,119.96. Trading volume was heavy at 443.2 million shares worth 7.28 trillion won ($6.64 billion), with gainers far outnumbering decliners 501 to 305."Foreigners are the biggest buyers of South Korean stock

South Korea posted a trade surplus for the 38th month in a row in March as imports dropped at a faster click than exports, customs data showed Wednesday.According to the Korea Customs Service, the country's trade surplus reached US$8.4 billion last month, up from $7.7 billion in February and $3.5 billion a year earlier.Exports fell 4.3 percent on-year to $47 billion in March, while imports nosedived 15.3 percent to $38.6 billion, it said.South Korea's trade account has been in the black since Fe

South Korean stocks started a tad higher Wednesday on gains in oil refiners and chemical shares as overnight global crude prices closed higher, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index added 2.01 points, or 0.1 percent, to 2,113.73 in the first 15 minutes of trading.Petrochemicals traded higher after prices of crude oil in New York rose to a one-week high after a forecast that U.S. shale oil output in May would record its first monthly decline in more than four years.OCI, a

South Korea's listed firms were expected to post weak sales, but their operating profit will sharply improve this year thanks to lower oil prices and restructuring efforts following last year's slump, data showed Wednesday.The combined sales of 237 firms listed on the main stock market was estimated at 437 trillion won ($398 billion) in the first quarter, down 5.38 percent from a year ago, according to the data compiled by the Korea Exchange. Except for a 0.07 percent hike in the third quarter,

The global TV market growth is forecast to decelerate this year, largely due to weaker currencies in emerging countries cutting demand, data showed Wednesday. The volume of global TV shipments is expected to reach 235 million units in 2015, up 4 percent from the previous year, according to the data compiled by market tracker DisplaySearch. The estimated expansion rate is lower than the 7 percent on-year growth seen in 2014. The growth rate for next year may further slow to an annual 3 percent, t

The South Korean government on Wednesday announced a set of what it called "short-term measures"to help boost the country's exports.Under the emergency steps, the government will seek to further boost the country's exports to China, the world's single largest importer of South Korean products."Shipments to China already account for over 25 percent of the country's overall exports, but there still is room for improvement in terms of what we export," a ministry official told reporters.Under its sh

South Korea's economic growth is expected to slow in 2015 from a year earlier due to slumping exports and anemic consumer spending, a leading think tank said Tuesday.Asia's fourth-largest economy will likely expand 3 percent on-year this year, down from a 3.3 percent advance last year, the LG Economic Research Institute said in its report on domestic and foreign economic outlooks for 2015.The institute cited slackening overseas shipments and private consumption that remains in the doldrums."The