The Korea Herald

FSS to intervene in banks’ spread calculating system

Dec 13, 2016

South Korea’s financial watchdog will crack down on any unfair practices by banks when calculating spreads for household loans and establish a system enabling consumers to compare loan rates by bank, it said Tuesday. The Financial Supervisory Service convened a meeting with vice presidents of major commercial banks in order to discuss measures to improve the spread calculating system for household loans. The meeting was held a day after Korea’s top financial regulator Yim Jong-yong vowed to make
Banks’ decision on merit-based system prompts backlash

Dec 13, 2016

Managing boards of Korea’s seven commercial banks held urgent board meetings late Monday evening and decided to adopt performance-related pay systems, drawing protests from labor unions.How and when the banks will enforce the new pay systems remains unclear, as managing boards will have to reach an agreement with labor unions first, observers said.Seven banks of KB Kookmin, Shinhan, Woori, KEB Hana, Standard Chartered Bank Korea, Citibank Korea and NongHyup held a board meetings and agreed to ad
Foreign currency deposits down $770 mln in November

Dec 13, 2016

Foreign currency deposits held by banks in South Korea dropped in November from a month earlier due mainly to a decline in US dollar deposits by exporters and individuals, central bank data showed Tuesday.Outstanding foreign currency deposits held by local residents came to $61.05 billion as of end-November, down $770 million from the previous month, according to the data from the Bank of Korea (BOK).Foreign deposits include those held by foreigners who have stayed in South Korea for more than s
Korean shares turn higher on Wall Street gains

Dec 13, 2016

South Korean stocks turned higher late Tuesday morning tracking gains on Wall Street ahead of this week's rate decision in Seoul and Washington.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index gained 2.11 points, or 0.10 percent, to 2,029.35 as of 11:15 a.m.The rise followed overnight gains on Wall Street. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 0.20 percent, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index declining 0.59 percent.Bae Sung-young, a market analyst at Hyundai Securities Co., said global s
Korean shares open lower ahead of rate decisions

Dec 13, 2016

South Korean stocks opened lower Tuesday as investors remain cautious on this week's rate decision in Seoul and Washington.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index lost 2.68 points, or 0.13 percent, to 2,024.56 in the first 20 minutes of trading.The Dow Jones industrial average gained 0.20 percent, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index declining 0.59 percent.Analysts said investors took a wait-and-see attitude on this week's Federal Open Market Committee meeting."Declines in large-ca
Financial authorities to raise fixed-rate loan ratio next year

Dec 12, 2016

Officials of the Financial Services Commission and Financial Supervisory Service hold a meeting on reviewing financial risks at the FSS headquarters in Yeouido on Monday. (FSC)South Korea will raise the target ratio of fixed-rate loans next year in order to reduce risks from rising interest rates, the country’s top financial regulator said Monday. At a meeting jointly held by the Financial Services Commission and Financial Supervisory Service to review financial risks, the authorities vowed to b
Financial authorities put full effort for market stabilization

Dec 12, 2016

South Korea's financial authorities on Monday vowed to make all-out efforts to stabilize the market under strain from increased uncertainties at home and abroad.In a joint emergency meeting, the two state regulatory agencies -- the Financial Services Commission (FSC) and the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) -- agreed to push for an "aggressive response" to a host of challenges.Many predict speedy market interest rate hikes due to the incoming U.S. President Donald Trump's fiscal expansionary
Seoul stocks open higher on US gains ahead of rate decisions

Dec 12, 2016

South Korean shares opened higher Monday, tracking gains on Wall Street ahead of this week's rate decision in Seoul and Washington.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 4.83 points, or 0.24 percent, to 2,029.52 in the first 15 minutes of trading.The main index tracked overnight gains on Wall Street. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.72 percent, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index climbing 0.50 percent.The stock markets rose as the parliament's impeachment of President
AXA Korea aims to grow as general direct insurer beyond cars

Dec 11, 2016

After positioning itself as the first direct car insurer, AXA Direct Korea will grow into a direct general accident insurer with an aim to acquire 1 million customers by 2022, its CEO Francois Lecomte said. “We are mostly a motor insurance company, but now we try to be equally strong in accidental health insurance, where AXA Group in other countries is strong. We want to develop that in Korea, too,” Lecomte told The Korea Herald. Last month, Lecomte won approval from Paris-based AXA Group for a
Fixed-rate bank loans on rise ahead of US Fed rate hike

Dec 11, 2016

Borrowers are scurrying to shift to fixed rate bank loans amid growing speculation that the country's interest rates would rise in tandem with a much-expected rate hike in the United States, with the portion of fixed-rate loans topping 40 percent, industry data showed Sunday.According to the sources, the portion of fixed-rate loans against total loans extended by the country's four major banks stood at between 41.3 percent and 45.8 percent as of end-November, a whopping increase from the mid-30
Impeachment brings relief to Korean stock market

Dec 9, 2016

The Korean stock market is likely to be relieved by the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye, as the outcome was widely expected and already priced into the market.　On the day of the vote, the Kospi index remained stable, only falling slightly by 0.31 percent. The index had been on the rise over the three days since the opposition parties proposed the impeachment bill on Tuesday.“(The stable market) is because the vote today is different from the political impeachment of the late president Roh
NPS logs modest returns from stocks on Samsung Electronics

Dec 9, 2016

South Korea's state pension operator has registered modest returns from investments in large-cap stocks this year on a surge in Samsung Electronics Co., despite decreased prices in many big-exposure issues, a market tracker said Friday.The value of 281 stocks, of which the National Pension Service (NPS) own 5 percent or more, came to 91.0 trillion won ($78.3 billion) as of Thursday, up from 84.7 trillion won at the end of last year, according to FnGuide.Of the total, 183 issues, or 65 percent, s
Tax agency names 2 executives for not reporting overseas accounts

Dec 8, 2016

South Korea's tax authorities said Thursday they have made public names of two business executives for not reporting their overseas bank accounts, a practice widely seen as an attempt to avoid taxes.The National Tax Service (NTS) published on its web site that Cho Hyun-joon, president of Hyosung Corp., and Kim Hee-geun, president of Byucksan Engineering, failed to report their offshore bank accounts to the authorities.The NTS said Cho, the eldest son of Hyosung Group Chairman Cho Suck-rae, did n
Korea raises bar for government mortgages next year

Dec 8, 2016

Koreans will face stricter requirements in order to gain access to a government-backed mortgage although the size of funds available for those eligible will be expanded, the financial authorities said Thursday.The Ministry of Strategy and Finance, the Financial Services Commission and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport jointly announced that regulators will expand government-backed mortgages for next year, but will also limit the value of eligible properties and add an upper cap
Major brokerages moving to new offices

Dec 8, 2016

Several major securities companies in South Korea are set to move into new offices in Seoul this month either in line with new operational plans or as a result of mergers, industry sources said Thursday.Samsung Securities Co., the brokerage arm of South Korea's top family-controlled conglomerate, is slated to move from its current headquarters in downtown Seoul to the new office in the so-called Samsung Town in southern Seoul late this month, which houses other Samsung financial firms, including