The number of consumer complaints brought against local financial companies jumped 15 percent on-year in the first-half of 2020, mainly related to the mis-selling of private equity funds and a surge in requests for loans to counter the coronavirus impact, data showed Tuesday.  According to data from the Financial Supervisory Service, the financial watchdog received a total of 45,922 consumer complaints against securities firms, commercial banks, insurance companies and credit card operat

South Korea's 10 financial holding firms saw their combined net profit fall 11 percent on-year in the first half of this year due mainly to increased loan loss provisions, data showed Tuesday. The combined net profit of KB Financial, Shinhan Financial and eight other financial holding firms stood at 7.6 trillion won ($6.4 billion) in the first six months of this year, compared with 8.57 trillion won for the same period last year, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service (FS

South Korean companies' sales declined at the sharpest clip on record in the second quarter as their business activity was hit by the new coronavirus outbreak, central bank data showed Tuesday. Sales of local businesses dropped 10.1 percent in the April-June period from a year earlier, accelerating from a 1.9 percent on-year fall in the first quarter, according to the data by the Bank of Korea (BOK). The reading marked the sharpest on-year fall since the first quarter of 2015 when the BOK beg

South Korean companies need to keep close tabs on India's anti-dumping rules and other trade remedies to protect its domestic industries, a report said Tuesday. India, Asia's third-largest economy, has been beefing up efforts to shield its domestic industries from foreign competitors by sharply raising import regulation probes in recent years. "India's import regulations have recently been very tough and aggressive," the report from the Korea International Trade Association (KITA) s

South Korea's export prices fell for the first time in four months in August as the local currency appreciated against the US dollar, central bank data showed Tuesday. The country's export price index, in terms of the local currency, dropped 0.2 percent in August from the previous month, compared with a 0.1 percent on-month gain in July, according to the preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). The reading marked the first drop after the index rose for three straight months since May.

South Korean chip exports to China are feared to take a hit from US sanctions on Chinese telecom giant Huawei Technologies Co. due to their heavy dependence on the neighboring country, sources said Tuesday. The new sanctions, which ban the supply of semiconductors made with US equipment, software and design to Huawei without prior approval from Washington, became effective the same day. The US move forces Samsung Electronics, the world's top memory chip maker, and SK hynix Inc. to stop semico

South Korean shares open slightly higher Tuesday, tracking overnight Wall Street gains that stemmed from brisk M&A deals and progress in coronavirus vaccine development. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 2.73 points, or 0.11 percent, to 2,430.64 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Investor sentiment was boosted by progress made in large acquisition deals by large firms for tech and bio blue chips, including the video-sharing app TikTok and drugmaker Immunomedics

Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki and Asian Development Bank President Masatsugu Asakawa held a video-linked meeting on Monday and pledged to cooperate against the new coronavirus, the finance ministry said. During the talks, Hong and Asakawa agreed to encourage countries in the Asia Pacific region to cooperate in various sectors to respond to COVID-19, according to the ministry. Hong also proposed opening ADB's Seoul office to boost cooperative ties, the ministry said.  Asakawa said they sho

South Korean shares jumped more than 1 percent Monday on the back of advances in tech shares and eased social distancing measures against the new coronavirus in the country. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 31.22 points, or 1.3 percent, to close at 2,427.91. Trading volume was moderate at about 953 million shares worth some 11.9 trillion won ($10.1 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 645 to 218. Foreigners bought a

South Korean investors have poured over 150 trillion won ($126.71 billion) into initial public offerings this year, 1.5 times more than last year, reflecting investors’ thirst for profit at a time of ultralow interest rates and high liquidity in the market, industry sources said Monday. Investor deposits for IPO subscription in the local market came to 150.9 trillion won from January to Thursday. In contrast, the figure for the whole of last year stood at 99.4 trillion won. Despite the

The Korea Herald is running a regular contribution series written by senior investment strategists at Standard Chartered Group Wealth Management. -- Ed. The US dollar has started to decline in value over the past few months, with the benchmark US dollar Index down about 9 percent since its March 2020 peak. This naturally raises questions on whether this US dollar weakness can extend, and whether this has broader implications for investors. We are of the view that there is room for the doll

Korea’s three leading credit card companies -- Kookmin Card, Lotte Card and NongHyup Card -- have been slapped with fines for mishandling customer data. The Supreme Court on Monday confirmed a lower court’s verdict to fine the three card issuers between 10 million won ($8,450) and 15 million won for violating the Personal Information Protection Act. The companies were accused of mishandling customer data as they had let subcontractors freely gain access to customers’ infor

South Korea will enter into talks with Uzbekistan by the end of the year, seeking to sign a bilateral trade deal, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said Monday. It will also establish a platform to help local SMEs promote and sell their products through contactless global selling channels such as Amazon. “Our economy continues to face difficulties, with exports logging negative growth for six months straight,” Hong said in a meeting of economy-related minist

South Korea's credit card companies saw their combined earnings rise in the first half of the year from a year earlier due to increased profits from card loans, data showed Monday. The combined net profit of eight card issuers, including Shinhan Card Co., Samsung Card Co. and KB Kookmin Card Co., came to 1.11 trillion won ($937 million) in the January-June period, up 18.9 percent from a year earlier, according to the data released by the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS). The hike in profit

The value of daily money transfers via mobile payment apps in South Korea rose 20.3 percent in the first half from six months earlier as online financial transactions increased amid the new coronavirus outbreak, central bank data showed Monday. The value of daily money transfers via smartphone apps, such as Toss, Naver Pay and KakaoPay, stood at 322.6 billion won ($272.3 million) in the January-June period, compared with 268.2 billion won in the second half of 2019, according to the data by th