Asset management companies in South Korea may face criticism from clients for backing Samsung Group's controversial merger of two units last year, industry watchers said Thursday.In an extraordinary shareholders' meeting in mid-July last year, all asset managers in the country supported the combination of then-Samsung C&T Corp. and Cheil Industries Inc. The merged entity was renamed Samsung C&T. This combined image shows Samsung Group heir apparent Lee Jae-yong, who appeared for a parliamentary

The number of cash dispensers (CD) and automated teller machines (ATM) fell for a second straight year in 2015 on growing demand for Internet and mobile banking services, South Korea's central bank said Thursday.The Bank of Korea said the number of CDs and ATMs across the country came to 121,344 as of the end of 2015 after hitting an all-time high of 124,236 in 2013.It said South Korea had 291 ATMs per 1,000 people -- the world's largest amount -- as of the end of 2014. In comparison, the United

Behind-the-scenes talks between Samsung Group and the National Pension Service must have occurred to push through the controversial merger between Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries in July 2015, legal sources have claimed. The merger had faced strong opposition from individual shareholders led by US hedge fund Elliott Management.“There must have been coordination between Samsung and the NPS prior to the shareholders’ meeting on such a huge deal,” a legal source who is familiar with the matter tol

South Korean’s overseas spending hit a new high in the third quarter on the back of increased outbound travel, central bank data showed Tuesday.According to data by the Bank of Korea, Korean people’s spending in foreign countries is estimated to have spiked 17 percent to 8.2 trillion won in the period of July to September this year from a year earlier. The increase marks a 23 percent surge from the second quarter.It is the first time the quarterly overseas spending exceeded 8 trillion won.The ov

South Korea's Shinhan Bank said its Indonesian unit, Bank Shinhan Indonesia (BSI), has completed a merger with another Indonesian bank in the latest move to seek a new growth engine in the world's fourth most populous country.BSI won an approval from the Indonesian financial authorities for its plan to merge Centratama Nasional Bank (CNB) on Nov. 25, six months after the bank submitted the request for the merger. Suh Tae-won (2nd from R), head of Shinhan Bank Indonesia, poses for a photo in a ce

Rising interest rates will be a major challenge for the South Korean banking industry next year, which may also threaten the country’s financial system at the worst, warned financial experts Monday. As the new US government under President-elect Donald Trump is raising the probability of the Federal Reserve making rate hikes at a faster pace than expected before, financial risks are mounting here where households and businesses have been relying on leveraging borrowed funds for the past two year

Loans extended to local businesses rose slightly in the third quarter from a quarter earlier on increased facility investments, central bank data showed Monday.Corporate loans climbed by 15.7 trillion won ($13.3 billion), or 1.6 percent, in the July-September period to 986.4 trillion won from three months earlier, according to data from the Bank of Korea (BOK).Year-on-year, the third quarter results marked a 5.9 percent gain.By purposes, loans extended for companies' operating expenses were up 1

Most of the recent new entrants to the South Korean stock market are trading below their initial public offering (IPO) price, data showed Monday, as investors remain spooked by unfavorable foreign and domestic factors.Out of the 12 companies that have listed their shares on the main and secondary bourses since November, eight finished below their IPO price as of Friday, while the rest managed to make gains by staying above their issue price, according to the data by the Korea Exchange (KRX). A c

South Korea's listed companies have almost doubled their issuance of convertible bonds (CBs) this year amid financial troubles largely attributable to corporate restructuring and lower profitability, data showed Monday.The volume of CBs sold by firms listed on the main KOSPI and secondary KOSDAQ markets in the first 11 months of 2016 totaled 5.03 trillion won ($4.3 billion), up 94.3 percent from a year earlier, according to the Korea Exchange. A image of corporate bond yields (Yonhap)CBs issued

Citibank Korea will challenge the current adverse conditions in the banking industry with a new business model for wealth management instead of seeking quantitative growth, said CEO Park Jin-hei on Thursday. Despite falling profits this year, Park has decided to focus on materializing a new concept of wealth management and “smarter mobile banking” for Korean consumers, and has come up with a noticeable outcome -- opening of the country’s largest wealth management center in Cheongdam in the afflu

South Korea’s central bank said it will carry out a test project in the first half of next year to reduce the use of coins.The Bank of Korea said it will select convenience stores and prepaid card companies by January in an initial test to encourage those who spend with cash at convenience stores to use their loose change to charge prepaid cards such as transportation cards.  (photo by 123rf)“We will shortly release the notice about the test project and get applications from convenience stores.