Potential tariffs by the United States on imported cars will drag down South Korea's economic growth this year by 0.3 percentage point, a global ratings agency said Tuesday.In a report released on the day, Moody's Investors Service said that the direct impact of the US tariffs is estimated "to account for around 0.2 percentage point deceleration in 2019 growth for Germany and around 0.3 percentage point for Japan and (South) Korea." The world's largest economy is moving to levy du

The chief of South Korea’s top financial regulator met with the CEOs of local credit card companies Tuesday to finalize measures aimed to diversify income sources and prevent further losses suffered by the card industry following a cut in card transaction fees.　The measures included putting a cap on lofty marketing expenses and allowing credit card firms to operate services analyzing and managing credit information in order to help improve profitability.　While the card industry acknowledge

South Korea’s financial authority has fined a Goldman Sachs affiliate 72 million won ($63,000) for naked short selling, marking the third case of the US-based investment bank facing sanctions here.The Securities and Futures Commission of the Financial Services Commission judged earlier this year that Singapore-based Goldman Sachs India Investments conducted short selling without securing underlying assets, officials said Monday.Naked short selling refers to the sale of borrowed shares in o

South Korea's central bank chief will attend international meetings this week to discuss pending economic and financial issues with this counterparts from the world's major economies, the Bank of Korea said Tuesday.BOK Gov. Lee Ju-yeol will head for Washington DC on Wednesday to participate in the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meetings slated for the following day, according to the central bank.Lee also plans to attend annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the

South Korea ranked second among 36 OECD member countries in terms of the cost of dismissing workers last year, a local think tank said Tuesday.In 2018, Korean companies shouldered the second-highest burden in dismissing employees, or the equivalent of 27.4 weeks of salary, behind Turkey's 29.8 weeks of wages, the Korea Economic Research Institute said in a statement.  The 36 OECD members paid an average of 14.2 weeks of salary to fire a worker last year, KERI said, citing data from the Worl

Stock prices of South Korea’s flagship carrier Korean Air and Hanjin KAL soared Monday, buoyed with grave irony by the news of Chairman Cho Yang-ho’s death earlier in the day. Analysts are seeing the price soar as the “cruel effect” of an “owner risk” -- a risk that stems from investors’ distrust in the owner of a company -- which is more defined in Korea due to massive family-owned enterprises called chaebol.As of 10:10 a.m., Korean Air shares increased

Woori Financial Group said Monday it has closed a deal to acquire Tongyang Asset Management and ABL Global Asset Management, marking its first acquisition deal since the group’s adoption of a holding company structure earlier this year. Woori Financial signed a stock purchase agreement with China’s Anbang Insurance Group to acquire its two asset management subsidiaries, closing a deal that is expected to help the group expand its nonbanking business segment. The deal comes around thr

South Korea’s major companies saw their exports drop last year, amid sluggish global growth and US-China trade tension, but banks enjoyed record-high revenue on the back of interest earnings, data showed Sunday.The contrast was all the more conspicuous during the fourth quarter, when banks -- commercial, provincial and internet-only -- marked a record-high figure in net profit, while key exporters turned into the red. According to data compiled by the Financial Supervisory Service and the

Return of Blackpink, Twice to help K-pop stocks rebound

South Korean shares ended higher Friday, with investors expecting a US-China trade deal. The won fell against the dollar. 　The benchmark KOSPI rose 3.08 points, or 0.14 percent, to close at 2,209.61. Trading volume was moderately heavy at 511.71 million shares worth 4.13 trillion won ($3.6 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 452 to 372.　Foreigners and institutions bought a combined 161.311 billion won worth of stocks, offsetting individuals’ stock selling worth 154.63 billion won. 　

The chief of South Korea’s financial supervisory body on Friday stressed “inclusive finance” and “responsible innovation” as the key drivers of its regulatory oversight this year as the country prepares for explosive growth in the fintech sector.Financial Supervisory Service Gov. Yoon Suk-heun called on foreign financial firms here to “bring in a new wave of financial inclusion and responsible innovation to the Korean financial industry.”Yoon was speakin

As South Korea’s venture investment hit a record high last year, Korea Venture Investment, South Korea’s fund of funds management institute, saw a jump in revenue growth, data from the Financial Supervisory Service showed on April 4. KVIC logged operating sales of 22.9 billion won ($20.1 million) and operating profit of 6.4 billion won, growing 38.59 percent and 385.76 percent, respectively. Its revenue soared 456.01 percent to 5.3 billion won during the same period, the company&rs

Standard Chartered Bank Korea, Citibank Korea once again under fire as dividends exceed net profit

Viva Republica, operator of South Korea’s leading mobile payment and finance platform Toss, on Thursday announced the launch of Toss Card for both offline and online use.　The Toss Card connects to users’ Toss account and is linked to their commercial bank accounts, thus functioning like a debit card. It can be used across all BC Card retailers, the firm said. The card comes in two colors -- black and silver -- and is able to support a maximum of 2 million won ($1,760) per paymen

Finance minister says budget volume likely to remain under W9tr