Aiming to become a hub of Asia's financial technology (Fintech) sector, South Korea agreed Monday to join hands with France.The two sides signed a memorandum of understanding on sharing related information and supporting their Fintech firms on each other's soil.The deal between South Korea's Fintech Center and the French Tech Hub Seoul was reached on the sidelines of a joint Fintech seminar to commemorate the 130th anniversary of the two nations forging formal diplomatic relations."When South Ko

Korea’s major accounting firms are in the hot seat over their tainted code of ethics and auditing incompetency.Public distrust toward local accounting firms increased when the news broke Friday that the head of the nation’s top accounting firm is to face prosecutors’ investigation on charges he leaked insider information to help ex-chief of Hanjin Shipping Choi Eun-yeong engage in illegal stock trading.Ahn Kyung-tae, chairman and CEO of Samil PricewaterhouseCoopers, will be probed for allegedly

Banks share of Korea’s household loan market has fallen to the lowest-ever level as stricter screening regulations have prompted more people to turn to nonbanking lenders, Bank of Korea data showed Saturday. The central bank said that private sector debt, excluding credit card spending, tallied at 569.3 trillion won ($482.5 billion) at end-March, and loans by local banks accounted for 49.1 percent of the total. It is the lowest since the fourth quarter of 2002, when the central bank first releas

 Woori Bank, South Korea's second-biggest bank by assets, said Sunday it has won final approval to take over a Philippine-based bank, in line with its efforts to tap deeper into overseas markets.   The South Korean bank said it has won a nod from the Central Bank of the Philippines to purchase a 51 percent stake in the Wealth Development Bank. Woori Bank said it plans to complete the procedures in the first half of 2016.   Established in 2002, the Wealth Development Bank boasts US$170 million in

The combined debt owed by Korea’s top nine shipbuilders exceeded 100 trillion won ($84.7 billion) in 2015, data showed Sunday, adding to concerns about the industry. The companies, many of which face government-led restructuring programs, owed lenders a combined 102.6 trillion won, up 15 percent from 89.1 trillion won in 2012, according to data compiled by market researcher Chaebul.com. “The shipbuilding industry’s crisis has been deepened as the government, the industry and the creditors have m

OECD urges Korea to boost productivity through small businesses

A growing number of listed South Korean firms have split their stocks in a bid to boost turnover and attract individual investors, the main bourse operator said Saturday. A total of 27 companies listed on the KOSPI and KOSDAQ markets have reduced the face value of their stocks this year, with seven more expected to follow suit in the third quarter, the Korea Exchange (KRX) said. Among them are Lotte Confectionery Co., the food unit of retail giant Lotte; Crown Confectionery Co.; and Doosan Heavy

The ratio of South Korea’s household debt borrowed by local banks dipped to the lowest-ever level as stricter screening regulations prompted more people to take out loans from nonbanking lenders, data showed Saturday. The private sector debt, excluding credit card spending, tallied at 569.3 trillion won ($482.5 billion) at end-March, and loans by local banks accounted for 49.1 percent of the total, the Bank of Korea (BOK) said. It is the lowest since the fourth quarter of 2002 when the central b

South Korean stocks will likely remain in a tight range next week on lingering uncertainties over the U.S. Federal Reserve’s rate decision and Britain’s possible exit from the eurozone, analysts said Saturday. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) closed at 1,967.17 on Friday, up 1 percent from a week earlier. The index dipped to a three-month low on Tuesday, but bounced back the next day as securities firms rallied on expectations of extending stock trading hours by 30 minutes

In light of shipping and shipbuilding companies that are being swept up by debt after years of oversupply, Korea’s steel firms are seeking preemptive steps not to succumb to the same fate. Industry watchers say the steel makers will likely hasten restructuring moves after summer when a new law that eases regulations on small mergers, splits and asset sales takes effect. The act, dubbed the “one shot law,” would clear regulatory hurdles associated with tax codes, commercial code and fair trade la

Sales dropped, but profit margins edged up in Corporate Korea last year, the Bank of Korea said Friday. According to the central bank’s survey of business performance at nearly 20,000 companies in Korea, revenues were down 2.4 percent in 2015 from a year earlier, led by manufacturers, which posted an average 4.2 percent drop. Profit margins, as a ratio of operating profit to revenue, increased to 5.2 percent from 4.2 percent during the same period. This means the companies earned an operating pr

South Korean shares closed higher Friday as falling crude prices drove up refiners and chemicals, supported by strong foreign buying. The local currency slightly gained ground against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index gained 12.11 points, or 0.62 percent, to 1,967.17. Trading volume was moderate at 517.98 million shares worth about 4.81 trillion won ($4.07 billion). Gainers far outpaced decliners 516 to 290.Local analysts said slipping oil prices due to increased pr

South Korea's main bourse on Friday said it will introduce a "kill switch" and other safety measures in its program trading platform next month to prevent investors from suffering losses from trading errors.A kill switch, also known as an emergency stop or e-stop, is a safety mechanism designed to help identify mistakenly placed orders and avoid liabilities due to such technical errors."If the kill switch system is introduced, the Korea Exchange can cancel mistakenly placed and untraded orders a

South Korea's financial authorities on Thursday said they will apply stricter lending rules in the nonbanking sector starting in the second half of the year to keep rising household debts in check. The Financial Services Commission will have insurance companies apply strengthened rules when extending loans to customers starting in July, the FSC said in a statement. Local banks began to adopt similar lending rules in February.  Lending section of a commercial bank branch in Seoul (Yonhap)"We will

The South Korean government said it will seek to cap the proportion of national debt to gross domestic product as part of efforts to preemptively enhance fiscal stability in the long term.In a meeting presided over by Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho in Seoul, the government discussed follow-up measures to drafts previously floated at the April fiscal strategy meeting that aimed at better managing tax revenue, budget and public pension funds.“The government plans to submit a bill on improving fiscal s