Peer-to-peer borrowers on South Korean lending platform Tera Funding had repaid 202.4 billion won ($180.6 million) in loans without becoming overdue, as of end-June, according to the startup on Monday. This marked the first time that a Korean P2P lending platform extended loans over 200 billion won and had the borrowing fully compensated, the startup said. Founded in 2014 by former banker and foreclosure freelancer Yang Tae-young, Tera Funding has been dedicated to financing projects for real es

Citibank Korea was named "Best Foreign Bank in Korea" in 2018 FinanceAsia Country Awards, a prestigious financial magazine. Citibank Korea has won the award a total of nine times between 2008 and this year.According to FinanceAsia, Citibank Korea reported a 15% year-on-year increase in annual net income, thanks to a staggering 192% jump in non-interest income including foreign exchange and derivatives gains, as well as investment and insurance product sales. At

This is the 59th in a series of articles analyzing major companies traded on the tech-heavy Kosdaq market. -- Ed.Asia Pacific Satellite, a communications satellite hardware manufacturer based in Seoul, has seen swift recovery following a plunge in the past few weeks. While the stock price has suffered a heavy fluctuation, analysts have said the future market performance of the manufacturer has a reason for an upsurge, on anticipation for an upcoming introduction of fifth-generational network her

A simultaneous downturn in economic indicators raises the possibility of the Korean economy weakening in the second half to the extent of making it hard to achieve the official 2018 growth target of 2.9 percent.Preliminary data released by the Bank of Korea last week showed Asia’s fourth-largest economy grew 0.7 percent on-quarter in the April-June period, decelerating from a 1 percent rise in the first quarter.Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon, who doubles as deputy prime minister for econom

South Korea's antitrust chief is set to visit China this week to attend a competition forum and step up bilateral cooperation to crack down on abuses caused by market dominance, the Fair Trade Commission said Monday.Kim Sang-jo will give a keynote speech on South Korea's competition policy at the two-day forum in Beijing, which runs through Tuesday, the watchdog said in a statement.The FTC chairman will also hold talks with Zhang Mao, minister of China's State Administration of Market Regulation

The future consumer sentiment index for South Korea's self-employed entrepreneurs declined at a fast clip, a clear sign of the worries faced by small-scale business owners, data by the central bank showed Sunday.The economic outlook CSI for self-employed people in the Bank of Korea's July report, stood at 79, compared to 91 for salaried workers in the country.The findings gauge how economic actors view prospects for the next six months and can be used to check such factors as consumption, invest

South Korean commercial banks let go some 7,400 employees over the past three years while earning some 18 trillion won mainly by collecting interest on loans they provided to households and companies, market data showed Sunday.The numbers come amid rising criticism that local lenders are not doing their part to create jobs and meet their social obligations, especially since they are making "easy" money from lending to people and firms with solid collateral. Official reports made by 19

Samsung Securities on Thursday was fined 144 million won ($128,500) and imposed a six-month suspension for parts of its business by the financial authorities over a failure to prevent a dividend fiasco that broke out in April this year. The brokerage arm of Samsung conglomerate will be banned from brokering equity securities transactions of new investors from Friday to Jan. 26, 2019, according to the Financial Services Commission. Incumbent Chief Executive Koo Sung-hoon was slapped with a three-

South Korean brokerage house Samsung Securities is stepping up its support of foreign investors seeking investment opportunities in North Korea. The efforts are being spearheaded by the securities firm’s in-house North Korea Investment Strategy Research Team, established on June 8 as a first in the securities industry here. A recent example is a session on July 19 targeting officials of private equity funds or asset management firms, during the two-day AVCJ Private Equity & Venture For

South Korea's low consumer prices will likely pick up in the second half of the year and reach near the central bank's target rate mainly due to the recovering global economy and rising public utility rates, a report by the bank said Thursday.According to the Bank of Korea monetary policy report submitted to the National Assembly, inflationary pressure from the demand side is rising throughout the world led by an upturn in the world economy.The International Monetary Fund revised up its 2018 wor

The government and the ruling Democratic Party said Thursday they will seek to revise the tax code this year in a way that will promote fair taxation and help boost job growth.Ruling party and government officials reached the agreement at their consultative meeting at a time when the Korean economy is slowing amid a sluggish job market."A revision of the tax code will center on improving income distribution and enhance taxation fairness in connection with the government's move to overhaul t

A possible global currency war that might erupt amid escalating trade tensions between the world’s largest economies threatens to pose a complicated set of risks to the Korean economy.US President Donald Trump last week accused China and the European Union of “manipulating their currencies and interest rates lower.”Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin later put flesh on Trump’s accusation by saying Washington is closely monitoring whether China has manipulated its foreign ex

To the young generation increasingly placing work-life balance over career progression or income, an airline miles credit card could be attractive to those who make more overseas trips, Standard Chartered Bank Korea said in a release. The Korean unit of the London-based banking giant has offered its flagship airline miles card since March, called Plus Mile, so that miles earned can be used for airlines in Korea. The card offers a maximum bonus of 3.5 miles to fly with Asiana Airlines o

South Korea's consumer confidence plunged at the sharpest rate in 20 monthshowed Wednesday.s in July due largely to signs of an economic slowdown and intensifying trade disputes between the United States and China, central bank data The composite consumer sentiment index (CCSI) for this month stood at a 14-month low of 101, down 4.5 points from the previous month, according to the survey by the Bank of Korea (BOK).It is the steepest on-month decline since the index lost 6.4 points in November 20

The Korea Herald is publishing a series of interviews on promising startups in the financial technology industry. This is the 19th installment. -- Ed.Offshore institutional investors have often come across a lack of financial information about South Korean securities when building an investment portfolio for Asian markets.Some 3 million privately held Korean companies are barely on the map. Relevance from overflowing information about listed companies in Korea -- largely embellished -- was also