Bank will review Citigroup’s withdrawal from Asia markets amid its aggressive global market entries, digital acceleration

More than half of Koreans favor taxation on gains from cryptocurrency trading, a survey showed on Monday, lending support to the government’s move to levy tax on the digital assets. 　 According to a poll by local survey firm Realmeter, 53.7 percent of the people polled said they back the planned taxation on cryptocurrency next year while 38.3 percent of them said they opposed the plan. Female respondents were more supportive over the taxation scheme over male respondents. The percentage

A growing number of South Koreans in their 40s have increased savings to prepare for life after retirement, a report said Monday.  The survey published by Hana Bank’s in-house research center showed that nearly 42 percent of 1,000 people born between 1972 and 1981 answered that they feel the urge to save money for their later lives, among other things. The list of their priorities on spending included home purchases and children’s private education with 36 percent and 16 perc

South Korea's financial regulator said Monday the country will take stern actions against illegal activities involving stock short selling as it allowed a partial resumption of short selling after a 14-month ban. The Financial Services Commission (FSC) partially lifted its ban on short selling of some listed stocks after it imposed a six-month ban on the trading strategy in March last year and later extended it to ease market routs caused by the pandemic. Short selling is a trading strategy in

South Korea's key stock index opened lower Monday after a four-session losing streak, as investors took to the sidelines on the first day of partially resumed short selling. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) fell 5.07 points, or 0.16 percent, to 3,142.79 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. Beginning Monday, the country's financial authorities lifted short selling ban on 200 market heavyweights on the main bourse and 150 companies on the tech-laden Kosdaq market. I

Analysts expected a partial lifting of South Korea’s ban on short selling of large-cap stocks on the Kospi 200 and Kosdaq 150 indexes on Monday will have a limited impact on the market. The country is set to ease bans on the indexes about 14 months after it imposed the restriction to protect investors from a sudden market fall triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic. Brushing aside retail investors’ concerns over a possible drop in stock prices, market watchers the equity market is un

South Korea’s Woori Financial Group said Sunday it has decided to launch a comprehensive mobile payment solution platform to establish ground in the digital payment market, currently dominated by fintech firms. The solution will integrate and offer the payment services for all of the group’s subsidiaries and affiliates, including Woori Bank and Woori Card. Through the platform, the group is seeking to reach beyond its existing customers. It will grant access to users with no Woor

NH NongHyup Bank, one of South Korea’s five major banks, said Sunday that it has been granted a license to operate a branch in Hong Kong, taking a solid step towards global expansion. With the green light given by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority on Thursday, the lender will make a foray into Asia’s largest financial hub. NH NongHyup plans to launch its Hong Kong branch by the end of the year, after selecting the location of its headquarters, according to the firm. “Hong Ko

After surviving bad bets on hotels, Asiana, Park says future industry is his new focus

Retail investors' stock ownership in Samsung Electronics Co., South Korea's most valuable company, surpassed 10 percent for the first time as they went bargain hunting for its shares amid the COVID-19 pandemic last year, industry data showed Sunday. Individual investors owned a total of 65.3 million common shares of Samsung Electronics as of Friday, accounting for 10.1 percent of the total, according to industry data. The world's largest memory chip and smartphone vendor is valued at 486.5 tr

South Korea's financial regulator is set to partially lift its ban on short selling of listed stocks this week, about 14 months after it imposed it to cope with a stock market rout triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic. Starting Monday, the ban on 200 large-cap firms listed on the main KOSPI and 150 firms listed on the secondary KOSDAQ will be lifted, the Financial Services Commission (FSC) said. A total of 917 stocks are listed on the KOSPI, and 1,470 stocks are listed on the KOSDAQ. A ban o

South Korea's exports jumped 41.1 percent in April from a year earlier, the highest growth in around 10 years, as demand for chips and automobiles stayed strong amid the improving global economy, data showed Saturday. Outbound shipments came to $51.1 billion last month, compared with $36.2 billion a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. It marked the sharpest on-year monthly growth since January 2011. Imports rose 33.9 percent to $50.8 bil

Nonfungible tokens, widely known as NFTs, will survive a second wave and, even more, thrive as the public increasingly embraces this digital asset that has become more understandable and tangible, advocates said. Gathering for a panel session held by accelerator SparkLabs, industry experts from the US and Korea said Thursday that, unlike in 2017, there are more use cases of NFTs and people adopting their use. First appearing in 2014, an NFT is a blockchain-based nonduplicable digital certi

Blockchain technology -- not just the cryptocurrencies that rely on it -- is becoming mainstream, as evidenced in the recent market debut of US cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase and nonfungible tokens gaining popularity, said advocates of digital assets on Thursday. “There are many promising blockchain companies but they are overshadowed by cryptocurrencies (for now),” said Lee Han-joo, the co-CEO of SparkLabs, a leading South Korean accelerator, at the company‘s demo day that

Despite a series of reform measures, Yoon less likely to serve 2nd term; Cheong Wa Dae remains mum over his replacement