Only three groups with tech-related businesses see gains in market value; retailers suffer

Jeonbuk Bank’s Cambodian subsidiary logged record-high annual net profit last year, marking it as one of the most successful Korean banks operating in the Southeast Asian country, the bank’s holding group JB Financial said Tuesday. Phnom Penh Commercial Bank’s net profit for fiscal 2019 jumped 40.5 percent on-year to 20.7 billion won ($17.4 million), according to JB Financial. PPC Bank was the only commercial lender in Cambodia to post an annual net profit of over 20 billio

Credit card issuer KB Card said Monday that it has rolled out a debit card featuring Pengsoo, a popular penguin character. The newly launched card comes in two designs — one with Pengsoo saying “Peng-ca,” and the other with the character trying out different fashion items. Peng-ca comes from the giant penguin’s signature line, “Peng-ha,” meaning “Pengsoo says hi.” As part of its marketing efforts, KB Card will give out stickers of the character

South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb said Monday that it had signed a memorandum of understanding with Chinese crypto exchange firm BitMax to roll out new crypto services and to tap into global markets together. They also agreed to jointly develop blockchain and cryptocurrency technologies and infrastructure. Founded in 2018 by CEO George Chao, Bitmax has attracted a number of Wall Street financial engineers who used to work for global financial firms, such as Barclays and Deutsche

Internet services provider NHN said Monday that its easy-to-use mobile payment service Payco was now available on US tech giant Apple’s platforms, including Apple Store, Apple Music and iCloud. Under the partnership, users can simply link their Payco accounts with their Apple ones via the Apple ID settings, the company said. Once their payment data is registered on one of their Apple devices, Payco subscribers can make online purchases across different iOS-powered gadgets, including t

Investors in beleaguered hedge fund Lime Asset Management are facing a bumpy road to get compensation for their losses. By no later than Friday, every investor in the hedge fund is expected to find out their confirmed individual losses in their combined 1.7 trillion-won ($1.4 billion) investment made under the convoluted master-feeder fund structure -- involving four master funds and 173 feeder funds as of end-2019. The losses of Lime Asset’s feeder funds may vary, but in some cases be

The World Bank will host a special event that highlights South Korea’s economy and innovative technology this week with the Korean government dispatching a special delegation, the Ministry of Economy and Finance said Monday. The government delegation of around 140 officials led by Vice Finance Minister Kim Yong-beom will attend Korea-WBG Partnership Week for Innovation and Technology, which kicks off Tuesday and runs for three days at the World Bank headquarters in Washington. Officials f

Hana Bank said Monday that it will launch its global mobile banking service in Hong Kong, making it the first Korean lender to provide such service in the global financial hub. The Global 1Q app will be available for use in Hong Kong now in addition to countries that include Canada, China, Japan, Indonesia, Brazil, Panama and Vietnam. The service was launched in Canada in 2015. The app automatically recognizes the country of the user’s current location, allowing easy access to the ser

Ratings agency Moody's on Monday cut its forecast for South Korea's 2020 economic growth to 1.9 percent from 2.1 percent, citing the economic fallout of the new coronavirus. The latest forecast by Moody's is lower than the Bank of Korea's prediction of 2.3 percent expansion for this year. The spread of COVID-19 in China and around the world is expected to have a negative impact on tourism and industrial production in Asian nations, including South Korea and Japan, Moody's said. Moody's als

SEJONG -- The country's anti-trust regulator said Monday it has found 14 online sellers of face masks in possible violation of fair trade laws, amid surging demand for protective masks over the spread of the novel coronavirus. Some of the online sellers have been accused of unilaterally canceling orders and selling face masks at higher market prices, the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) said in a statement. For instance, one online vendor unilaterally canceled orders for 119,450 face masks betwee

SEJONG -- South Korea must maintain its accommodative policy stance as it seeks to prop up a slowing economy amid muted inflationary pressure, a regional think-tank said Monday. "Given ample fiscal space, the fiscal stance should remain expansionary in the near term with more spending allocated toward restructuring the economy," the ASEAN+3 Macroeconomic Research Office (AMRO) said in a report. "At the same time, monetary policy should be accommodative in view of moderating ec

Auto finance firm among top employers in Canada

The entire amount of financial losses stemming from Lime’s funds is expected to rise to more than $1 billion, sparking deep distrust in private fund operatives and concerns over a lack of protective measures for individual investors. Lawsuits for damages and compensation are likely to follow en masse, after an intermediary audit on the hedge fund firm last week by the financial watchdog specified the case as alleged fraud. On Friday, the Financial Supervisory Service said Lime and it

     The number of taxpayers owning expensive homes, subject to higher property tax, surged at the fastest pace in Jamsil, southern Seoul, data showed Sunday.  The number of home owners who paid comprehensive real estate holding tax rose 36.1 percent on-year from some 15,000 to nearly 21,000 in Jamsil, said Rep. Kang Byung-won of ruling Democratic Party, quoting data from the National Tax Service. The number of taxpayers in Jamsil owning one residential unit with an appra

South Korea’s Woori Bank said Sunday it recently merged two of its Cambodian subsidiaries in an effort to provide comprehensive financial services in the Southeast Asian nation. According to the commercial lender, Cambodian financial authorities approved the merger of Woori Finance Cambodia and WB Finance earlier this month. WB Finance is the surviving entity. Woori Finance Cambodia was established after Woori acquired Cambodia’s microfinance institution Malis Finance for 5 billi