The Korea Herald

FSS warns of credit card woes

Mar 7, 2011

Financial Supervisory Service Gov. Kim Jong-chang speaks during a meeting with chief executives of credit card companies on Monday. (Kim Myung-sub/The Korea Herald)The nation’s chief financial regulator on Monday expressed his strong resolve to tighten supervision of credit card issuers, warning their excessive competition could bring the industry to a new crisis. In his breakfast meeting with CE
China’s focus on stability to create opportunities for Korea

Mar 7, 2011

China’s new drive for sustainable growth raised expectations of bigger opportunities for Korean exporters, with some advising more aggressive investment to target mainland consumers.Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao on Saturday pledged to make the country’s growth more sustainable over the next five years with a lower GDP target of 7 percent, a sign Beijing intends to fight inflation and strengthe
Team to combat offshore tax evasion

Mar 7, 2011

Tax, customs and financial authorities plan to set up a joint task force to better crack down on offshore tax evasion, sources said Monday.The new body will be established within this year with officials from the National Tax Service, Financial Supervisory Service and Korea Financial Intelligence Unit, they said.The government is seeking to strengthen its fight against tax offenders as a way of in
Korea targets wider Asia bond sales to cut crisis risk

Mar 7, 2011

Korea is seeking to sell bonds to a broader range of investors, especially within Asia, to limit the risk of large, swift investment outflows triggering a crisis, a finance ministry official said.“We would like to broaden our bond buyers overseas so that we can avoid a financial crisis caused by the sudden flight by a few,” Woo Hae-young, director of the Government Bond Policy Division at the Mini
Former IBK CEO Yun to head KEB

Mar 7, 2011

Hana group nominates veteran financier ahead of acquisitionHana Financial Group chose Yun Yong-ro, former CEO of Industrial Bank of Korea, as president & CEO of Korea Exchange Bank, company officials said Monday.The nation’s fourth-largest financial group is poised to take over KEB and its executive recommendation committee proposed to the group’s board members that Yun head the new banking unit.T
DDoS attack virus wipes hard drives

Mar 6, 2011

A malicious code embedded in personal computers to attack Internet sites in Korea began to destroy hard drives of their host computers on Sunday, communication authorities said. Key government agencies and financial institutions suffered cyber assaults Friday and Saturday with minor damage caused. On Sunday, the code for the so-called “distributed denial-of-service” attacks activated an order to d
Hyundai wins $615m drillship order

Mar 6, 2011

Noble Corp., which has ordered construction of two of the industry’s most expensive drilling rigs this year, will buy a third ultra-deepwater vessel as contractors take advantage of higher crude prices and low shipyard costs.The rig, which will be able to drill in water as deep as 12,000 feet (3,700 meters), will cost $615 million, the Geneva- based drilling contractor said. Noble ordered all thre
Revised savings bank rules to hit shareholders

Mar 6, 2011

New regulations mean major stakeholders face fines if banks take too many lending risksThe financial regulator plans to add new clauses to regulations on savings banks to enhance supervision and punish large shareholders for risky behavior, sources said Sunday.The Financial Supervisory Commission is rewriting rules governing the country’s embattled savings banks suffering the result of their inves
BOK under growing pressure to hike rate

Mar 4, 2011

The Bank of Korea is under intense pressure to raise the benchmark interest rate for March after keeping the rate unchanged last month despite spiraling consumer prices.Analysts have widely criticized the Monetary Policy Committee of the central bank, accusing it of missing the opportunity to make timely increases in the interest rate since the latter half of 2010.Woori Futures research analyst Ch
Regulator warns against excessive bank competition

Mar 3, 2011

FSS chief blasts Shinhan for stock options given to ex-chairFinancial Supervisory Service Gov. Kim Jong-chang on Thursday issued a strong warning against excessive competition and executive compensation among commercial banks.In a meeting with bank CEOs in Seoul the nation’s chief financial regulator cautioned that banks should refrain from behavior that could destabilize their finances and furthe
Seoul shares rebound on recovery hopes

Mar 3, 2011

Korean stocks closed 2.2 percent higher on Thursday, recouping losses from earlier this week, as a series of encouraging economic data spurred strong foreign and institutional buying, analysts said. The local currency rose against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) jumped 42.42 points to 1,970.66. Trading volume was moderate at 277.2 million shares worth 5.13 t
Hynix seeks delay of patent trial

Mar 3, 2011

Hynix Semiconductor Inc., Micron Technology Inc. and Nanya Technology Corp. asked a federal judge in California to delay a patent-infringement trial scheduled for May 2 over claims brought by Rambus Inc. Jared Bobrow, a lawyer representing the memory-chip makers, said in a letter Wednesday to U.S. District Judge Ronald M. Whyte in San Jose, California, that the trial should be taken “off calendar”
Foreigners turn to big net stock sellers

Mar 3, 2011

Foreign investors swung to massive net selling of Korean stocks in February as mounting inflation threats and political uprisings in Arab countries put a damper on sentiment, the financial regulator said Thursday. Foreigners pulled 3.7 trillion won ($3.3 billion) of Korean shares out of the local bourse last month, compared with net buying worth 1.4 trillion in January, the Financial Supervisory S
Korea urges 3-way FTA with Japan, China

Mar 3, 2011

Korea needs to sign a three-way free trade deal with Japan and China in a bid to boost prosperity in Asia and better prepare for external shocks, a senior finance ministry official said Thursday.“Economic integration should be pursued to help the East Asian countries flexibly deal with global uncertainties and realize their co-prosperity in this region,” Vice Finance Minister Yim Jong-yong told an
S. Korea's foreign reserves hit fresh high in Feb.

Mar 3, 2011

South Korea's foreign exchange reserves climbed to a new high in February as a weaker U.S. dollar boosted the conversion value of assets in other currencies, the central bank said Thursday. The country's foreign reserves reached US$297.67 billion as of the end of February, up $1.71 billion from the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea. The reserves rose for the third consecutive mont