Korea’s online stock trading hit a record high last year, helped by the widespread use of smartphones and other Internet-enabled digital devices. The value of stocks traded online reached 2,468 trillion won ($2.19 trillion) last year, up 18.3 percent from 2,086 trillion won a year earlier, according to the Korea Exchange.Of the total, the main bourse KOSPI accounted for 1,524 trillion won, while the tech-packed KOSDAQ generated 944 trillion won worth of online trades last year. Online stock trad

Government may intervene in management through pension serviceForeign investors are leaving Hana Financial Group by disposing of their stake amid uncertainties from the group’s takeover of Korea Exchange Bank.Following the departure of Temasek Holdings in October, Goldman Sachs sold off its entire stake in Hana Financial on Tuesday.At the end of June 2011, Temasek, an equity fund controlled by the Singapore government, and Goldman, a global investment bank, were the largest and second-largest sh

KB Kookmin Bank has been selected as Korea’s best onshore custodian for a consecutive year by Asian Investor, a magazine for the Asia-Pacific financial markets.The award, dubbed Asian Investor 2011 Korea, was set up in March 2011 by the magazine.The nation’s largest retail lender Kookmin Bank has emerged as one of Asia’s leading banks.Its parent KB Financial posted 2.37 trillion won ($2.07 billion) in net profit last year. Its total assets came to 361.6 trillion won, up 28.1 trillion won from a

Debts held by homeowners in Korea grew faster than their income in 2011, data showed Tuesday, indicating that the slowing economy and heavy financial burden from housing loans are causing many to become the so-called “house poor.”According to the data offered by the Bank of Korea and Statistics Korea, household debt among homeowners came to 63.53 million won ($56,570) last year, up 12.9 percent from 56.29 million won a year earlier.Over the same period, their disposable income rose 9.3 percent f

South Korea’s central bank said Monday that it will establish a 1 trillion won ($890 million) special credit line for small and medium enterprises in a bid to spur local lenders to increase loans to them.The move by the Bank of Korea, slated to take effect on April 2, comes as local banks remain reluctant to provide unsecured loans to SMEs with insufficient collateral.“The new credit line is designed to help high-risk smaller firms take out bank credit loans more easily,” a BOK official said.As

Korean stocks closed 0.6 percent higher on Monday as the Greece parliament’s approval of an austerity bill helped quell investor jitters over a possible Greek default, analysts said. The local currency rose against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark KOSPI rose 12.03 points to 2,005.74. Trading volume was moderate at 447.1 million shares worth 5.69 trillion won ($5.07 billion), with gainers outnumbering decliners 484 to 324.“The course of a bailout package for Greece is yet to be determined, but the p

Financial regulator and card firms say move undermines market principlesThe Korean government and credit card companies on Monday expressed strong opposition to a revision of the Credit Finance Business Act that, if passed at the plenary session of the National Assembly, would authorize the Financial Services Commission to set the commission rates credit card firms collect from small merchants. Credit card companies said they would take steps to block a revision of the bill that they claim goes

South Korea’s financial markets are showing signs of recovery from a global crisis caused by a faltering U.S. economy and eurozone debt problems, but remains shy of pre-crisis levels seen in July last year, data showed Monday. South Korea’s credit default swap premium, or the cost of insurance against sovereign default, fell to 1.41 percent on Friday from 2.29 percent on Oct. 4., according to the data by the Korea Center for International Finance. However, the latest CDS premium is still higher

Hana Financial Group Inc. said Sunday that it has signed a deal to buy majority stakes in a U.S.-based lender in a bid to expand its presence in the United States.Under the memorandum of understanding with Saehan Bancorp, the South Korean banking group will purchase newly issued shares to secure a 5

The corporate credit ratings for Korean conglomerates and their affiliates have gone up amid growing worries over the neutrality and credibility of local credit ratings agencies, data showed Sunday. Korea’s three major ratings agencies ― NICE Investors Service, Korea Investors Service and Korea Ratings ― have issued more upgrades than downgrades, boosting the up/down ratio for corporate credit ratings to 3.4, according to the Korea Capital Market Institute. A ratio above 1 means upgrades outnumb

South Korean stocks may expand their gain this week, buoyed by lessening eurozone default risks, local analysts said Saturday.The benchmark KOSPI closed on Friday at 1,993.71, up 1.4 percent from a week earlier.The index surpassed the keystone 2,000 mark for the first time in six months during the weekly trading session, although it lost some ground on Friday as investors remained cautious that a bailout deal for Greece may not end Europe’s fiscal woes.Market watchers said there are some downsid

South Korea retained its position as the world’s largest financial derivatives market in terms of trading volume last year, claiming 27 percent of total trading volume, data showed Sunday.The trading volume of financial derivatives, such as futures and options, on the local bourse gained 4.4 percent on-year to 3.81 billion contracts, according to the data from the World Federation of Exchanges. In the same period, global trading volume jumped 9.4 percent to 14.14 billion contracts.The on-year in

The Financial Supervisory Service is scheduled to hold an annual conference with foreign and local financial companies in March.The meeting, dubbed FSS SPEAKS, is particularly designed to provide foreign financial services firms with more detailed information on Korea’s market conditions, including stock and bond investments.Since its inaugural meeting in 2009, the meeting has established itself as a leading channel for direct communication between market participants and regulatory officials.“T