Financial regulators are been in the last stage before their ruling on Lone Star Funds’ eligibility as the biggest shareholder of Korea Exchange Bank.“Inspectors are finally reviewing the issue as to whether Lone Star has been a non-financial investor (which is banned from owning a local bank),” Financial Services Commission chairman Kim Seok-dong told reporters Thursday.But Kim said the FSC has yet to decide whether to announce its stance on the U.S.-based equity fund at the panel discussion, s

Korea’s credit card spending jumped nearly 10 percent last year despite regulators’ policy that attempted to keep the purchases through plastic at bay, data showed Wednesday. According to the Bank of Korea and the Credit Finance Association, the country’s credit card spending last year is estimated at upward of 540 trillion won ($478.5 billion) as of the end of 2011, up from 493.7 trillion won in the previous year. The 2011 figure ranked second-highest after 622 trillion won recorded in 2002, a

Korean businesses are bracing for difficult times in the second half of this year, showed a report on the world’s high income, leading market economies on Tuesday.The business confidence index by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development showed Korea’s numbers standing at 96.2, the fourth lowest among the 23 countries checked.An index reading below the benchmark 100 mark means pessimists outnumber optimists.The BSI tallied in December by the Paris-based organization also showed T

Korean stocks finished 0.12 percent higher Wednesday as foreign investors snapped up tech and auto exporters, but gains were trimmed by institutional selling, analysts said. The local currency rose against the U.S. dollar.After rising as much as 1.2 percent, the benchmark KOSPI gained 2.34 points to 1,952.23.Trading volume was moderate at 372 million shares worth 6.07 trillion won ($5.39 billion) with gainers leading losers 421 to 401. “Apple’s earnings surprise was a positive impact on the loca

Korea has been ranked the 29th most globalized country in the world, up four spots from last year, a study by consulting firm Ernst & Young said Wednesday.The latest ranking places Korea ahead of China (39th) and Japan (40th). Korea is now the fourth most globalized nation in Asia, after top-ranking Hong Kong, third-place Singapore and 12th-ranked Taiwan.“The process of globalization paused a little with the 2008 financial recession, but it is accelerating again with the sharing of technological

The Finance Ministry created a new bureau tasked to tackle demographic challenges related to the aging population and low fertility rates, it said on Monday.Dubbed the Bureau of Future Strategy, the new team will be at Seoul’s central tower developing policy responses for the country’s long-term challenges threatening the sustainability of public finances.“Long-pending questions about the aging society and other demographic issues haven’t been getting proper attention. The new team will organize

Companies raise record 143 trillion won with stock and bond issuancesKorea’s direct financing surged last year as local firms rushed to secure extra capital in the face of the worsening eurozone fiscal crisis, data showed Wednesday. According to the Financial Supervisory Service, Korean companies raised a record 143.39 trillion won ($126.31 billion) in 2011 through stock and bond issuances, up 16.3 percent from 123.26 trillion won tallied the previous year. The sharp increase came as Korean comp

The International Monetary Fund has lowered the world’s 2012 economic growth to 3.3 percent, down from its September projection of 4.0 percent, citing the faltering global recovery and greater risks.“The global recovery is threatened by intensifying strains in the euro area and fragilities elsewhere. Financial conditions have deteriorated, growth prospects have dimmed, and downside risks have escalated,” the IMF said in its update of the World Economic Outlook.The IMF said the downward revision

NEW YORK (Yonhap News) ― Korea signed a bilateral agreement Monday with Bermuda on the exchange of tax information which officials said would serve as a stepping stone for the improvement in the two countries’ relations.South Korea proposed the Tax Information Exchange Agreement with Bermuda, known as a major tax haven in the North Atlantic Ocean, in 2009.“This pact, the first between South Korea and Bermuda, will be an important starting point for the development of ties between the two sides,”

Korean stocks will likely extend their gains next week and approach to 2,000 points on the back of continued foreign buying and easing fears over the eurozone debt crisis, analysts said Saturday.Last week, the KOSPI rose 3.95 percent from the previous week to 1,949.89, closing at its highest level since the first-ever downgrade of U.S. sovereign rating on Aug. 5.The weekly gain came as France and Spain’s strong debt auctions helped stave off investor concerns following eurozone sovereign rating

Major South Korean securities firms reaped more than half of their commission income from stock consignments in the fiscal first half, with the stock commission profits of the top 10 players exceeding 100 billion won ($88 million) on average, data showed Monday.The commission profits that 62 local securities firms earned by selling and buying stocks for their customers totaled 2.94 trillion won in the April-September period, accounting for 70.3 percent of their total commission income, according

Experts warn of Korea’s economic losses from joining U.S.-led punitive action on TehranKorea’s joining of the U.S.-led sanctions against Iran will fan inflation and cause $7 billion in losses for exporters a year, international relations experts warned Tuesday.Lee Hee-soo, a professor at Hanyang University, said the U.S. demand for Korea to reduce trade activities with Iran last week is the strongest push made in its 30 years of sanctions against Iran’s nuclear ambitions.“Iran is the No. 1 marke