The new head of South Korea's sole bourse operator on Wednesday pledged all-out efforts to transform it into a holding company with a few subsidiaries in a bid to survive the rapidly changing market environment."Given internal and external necessities, a shift to a holding firm is a task we have to achieve at all costs," Korea Exchange CEO Jeong Chan-woo said, starting his three-year tenure.The KRX has sought to go public and become a holding firm as part of efforts to strengthen governance and

South Korea's top financial regulator on Wednesday emphasized the government's unswerving commitment to expand performance-linked pay for local bank workers."It's an indispensable financial reform task," Yim Jong-yong, chairman of the Financial Services Commission said at a government-civilian meeting on improving the nation's financial system.The government will push for the spread of a "performance-oriented culture" on the basis of constant principles, he added.Yim's comments came as bank work

South Korean banks' net income from their branches abroad fell more than 17 percent in the first half of this year on increased provisions for bad loans, government data showed Wednesday.Local banks had a total of 173 branches in 39 foreign countries as of end-June, according to the Financial Supervisory Service. Most of the overseas operations were concentrated in Asia, accounting for 66.5 percent of the total, followed by 12.7 percent in Europe and North America, respectively.Their combined as

South Korea said Tuesday it will introduce a new system to enable reporting multiple credit cards lost or stolen with just a single phone call.So far, card holders have been required to report separately to each card issuer.South Korean adults have an average of 3.4 credit cards, according to government data.Under the measure to take effect on Wednesday, they can make a single phone call to any of the eight credit card firms and 11 banks joining the initiative to report credit cards lost or stol

South Korean savings banks have seen their "large-sum" deposits nearly double over the past two years, data showed Tuesday, as people become more risk-prone amid ultra-low interest rates.According to the data by the Korea Deposit Insurance Corp., deposits of more than 50 million won ($45,300) per account at local savings banks totaled 5.08 trillion won as of end-June, up 87.3 percent from two years ago and 14.5 percent from the previous quarter.The portion of large-sum deposits to the total also

Soured loans to South Korea's conglomerates held by major banks rose to the highest level yet seen, as major shipyards and shipping companies undergo restructuring amid falling demand, data showed Monday.Nonperforming loans by major enterprises reached 19.72 trillion won ($17.87 billion) in the January-June period, growing 1.37 trillion won from the end of 2015, the Financial Supervisory Service said.  It is the first time that bad corporate loans surpassed 19 trillion won since the data were fi

South Korean stocks fell Friday as investors were spooked by the financial stability of German banking giant Deutsche Bank. The Korean won fell against the US dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index declined 25.09 points, or 1.21 percent, to close at 2,043.63. Trade volume was moderate at 317 million shares worth 5.6 trillion won ($5.1 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 654 to 169.The local stock market opened lower following a sharp decline on Wall Street. Worries mounted

Bank lending rates on new household loans slightly fell from a month earlier in August and interest paid by banks on new deposits also dropped, central bank data showed Thursday.The average interest rate on fresh household loans extended by local banks came to 2.95 percent last month, down 0.01 percentage point from the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea.The August reading marked the fifth consecutive month of drop.Lower rates could prompt households to borrow more money for investme