South Korea’s Mirae Asset Financial Group has invested some $150 million in Impossible Foods, a US-based startup that produces meat alternatives, according to reports Monday. Mirae Asset, along with several financial investors, participated in the latest funding round,” an investment banking source was quoted as saying by Financial News. “Mirae Asset was the only Korean firm and appears to be paying attention to the fast-growing meat alternative market.” Founded in 2

The fast-spreading novel coronavirus outbreak has erased $16.7 trillion market capitalization in global stock markets, according to news reports Sunday. The overall market cap in 86 nations dropped 18.7 percent, from $89. 2 trillion on Jan. 20 to $72.5 trillion on March 12, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The market cap loss during the volatile past few weeks is approximately tenfold that of South Korea’s nominal gross domestic product, standing at $1.6 trillion in 2019. Th

South Korea on Friday announced a temporary ban on stock short selling for six months amid a market rout triggered by the outbreak of the new coronavirus. The Financial Services Commission said the six-month ban will affect all listed firms, starting from Monday. FSC Chairman Eun Sung-soo said the duration of the ban may be extended, or even shortened, depending on future conditions. "The ban on short selling may be lifted (before six months) when and if the market becomes stabilized,&

South Korea’s stock market dived more than 8 percent during Friday morning trading, triggering the stock exchange to temporarily halt trading on both the country’s main bourse Kospi and tech-heavy Kosdaq market. It is the first time in Seoul stock market to activate circuit breakers in both Kospi and Kosdaq market in one trading session. The Korea Exchange activated the circuit breaker to suspend the Kospi’s operation for 20 minutes around 10:43 a.m., as the index plumm

TOKYO (AFP) -- Asian markets opened in freefall on Friday, extending a global rout that saw bourses experience their worst day in decades on fears of a recession caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei index nosedived more than seven percent shortly after the open, with markets around the region plummeting after a historically bad trading day in the US and Europe. The Nikkei 225 index dropped 7.12 percent or 1,322.15 points to 17,237.48 in early trade, while the broader T

South Korea's stock market trading was halted Friday minutes after the opening bell due to sharp falls as panic sell-offs sparked by an overnight plunge on Wall Street amid growing concerns over the new coronavirus' economic fallout around the globe. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index surrendered 107.82 points, or 5.87 percent, to 1,726.51 as of 9:30 a.m. The local stock market trading was halted after the sharp plunge. The benchmark index dipped by more than 8 percent to as low

Local brokerages and banks in Yeouido, the country’s main investment and financial district, have allowed employees to work from home as part of efforts to contain the new coronavirus. Over 73 percent of the nation’s financial companies are reviewing telecommuting plans, according to a poll conducted by job portal Saramin. “Except IT and other core departments, many employees are working from home through the company’s intranet,” said a 35-year-old office worker a

The coronavirus outbreak, now declared to be a pandemic by the World Health Organization this week, has started to send shockwaves across the global economy and markets that have prospered for years on the back of ultra-low interest rates, relatively stable energy prices and the increased productivity of the corporate sector. The economic shock of COVID-19 could be a lot like the 2008 financial meltdown, economists have warned, reminding investors of South Korea’s painful past 12 years ag

The Kospi plummeted more than 5 percent during Thursday trading, which triggered the stock exchange to temporarily halt trading on Korea’s main bourse, as investor sentiments weighed on the coronavirus pandemic. The Korea Exchange activated a “sidecar,” meaning it temporarily halted the trading of shares, for five minutes around 1:04 p.m. after Kospi 200 index futures slipped over 5 percent. It was the first time the sidecar had been activated for the Kospi since Oct. 4, 201

Seoul stocks opened lower Thursday, tracking renewed market turmoil on Wall Street, sparked by the UN health body's declaration that the new coronavirus is a pandemic. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index fell 19.70 points, or 1.03 percent, to 1,8888.57 in the first 15 minutes of trading. On Wednesday, the KOSPI plunged nearly 3 percent to 1,908.27 points, the lowest level since Feb. 17, 2016. The plunge was driven by lack of clarity from the planned US measures to cushion the econ

Seeking more female board representation in financial market, critics note limited power of revised rule on gender diversity in South Korea

Assetplus Investment Management said Wednesday it has named Edward Yang as its new CEO following a shareholders meeting. This marks Yang’s return to the top post in four years -- he served in the top post from June 2012 to May 2016. After his term, he has since led Assetplus’s strategic business division. Yang said he would focus on the firm’s digital marketing scheme that would allow the asset manager to draw retail investments into its funds through mobile trading platfor

A series of system errors on online transaction platforms run by local brokerages and an internet bank were reported this week, disrupting services. SK Securities suffered a technical glitch at its home trading system and mobile trading system for nearly three hours from about 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., a source told The Korea Herald, saying it caused investment losses. “I wasn’t able to connect to the MTS, so I tried trading through the HTS. I was able to trade my securities in real time,

Despite the novel coronavirus outbreak continuing to roil financial markets, the number of active security accounts in South Korea has exceeded 30 million for the first time, according to data from the Korea Financial Investment Association and Statistics Korea on Wednesday. As of Friday, the number of active equity accounts marked some 30 million -- up 26,245 from a day earlier and 661,612 ‬from the beginning of this year, the self-regulatory financial organization and nation’s statisti

Global rating agency Fitch Ratings Inc. said Tuesday the global memory chip market will suffer a limited risk of supply disruptions in the short term from the spreading coronavirus outbreak. The memory semiconductor market is likely to continue to recover as weakening demand for memory chips used in smartphones and PCs will be offset by stronger demand for those used in servers, Fitch said in a statement.  "This is because the industry's manufacturing facilities are highly automated