Light action on Lone Star expected to invite series of protestsFinancial Services Commission Chairman Kim Seok-dong will likely be under heavier pressure to resign following regulators’ allegedly lukewarm action against Lone Star Funds last Friday.A group of lawmakers are poised to call for Kim to quit as the top regulator, criticizing the FSC for not taking stern measures on the U.S.-based equity fund.A group of unionized workers in the financial sector had already said Kim should leave the po

FSC paves the way for the country’s biggest banking takeover amid protestsKorea’s financial regulators on Friday paved the way for Lone Star Funds, convicted of stock manipulation, to take huge premiums from selling its stake in Korea Exchange Bank. The nine-member panel of the Financial Services Co

Bahk Byong-won, former presidential secretary for economic affairs, has been nominated chairman of Korea Federation of Banks.The KFB is poised to appoint the 59-year-old to the post at a decision-making meeting on Nov. 23.Bahk, who will replace current KFB chairman Shin Dong-kyu, worked as a senior aide to President Lee Myung-bak between 2008 and 2009 and was chairman of state-run Woori Financial Group between 2007 and 2008.He had mostly served in the government as a public official. Before work

Artificial thematic grouping of shares spawns manipulation in stock marketsWith the presidential election set for next year, a growing number of Korean stocks are being linked to a slew of groundless ― often meticulously manipulated ― rumors in a way that fuels more volatility on the local bourse.Korea Exchange and brokerage data showed on Thursday that at least 60 stocks are estimated to be changing hands on the KOSPI and KOSDAQ under the category “election-themed” shares.It is no new phenomeno

Public finance in Korea is healthy enough for the government to provide more stimulus without negative consequences for its sovereign debt rating, senior vice president of Moody’s Sovereign Risk Group for Asia said Thursday.Although Korea would remain relatively less vulnerable to the ongoing debt saga in Europe, its “modest” amount of public debt leaves Seoul more room for additional policy accommodation should growth stalls further, Tom Byrne told reporters in Seoul.“Korea has good financial g

Financial regulators plan to unveil Friday their stance on whether to punish Lone Star Funds for stock manipulation.The Financial Services Commission said Wednesday it would hold an extraordinary meeting, composed of a nine-member panel, on Nov. 18 to discuss detailed ways to order the fund to sell most of its stake in Korea Exchange Bank.The regulator’s meeting is drawing wide interest “in terms of abusing authority or not” as the Supreme Court has yet to rule on whether the FSC should make pub