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

South Korea was No. 1 among states in the Asia-Pacific region in the utilization of digital finance such as online shopping and internet banking, data showed Tuesday.But it also showed a sharp digital divide, with relatively large differences according to age and income. According to the Asian Digital Transformation Index report published by the Economic Intelligence Unit and MasterCard, Seoul’s portion of customers with no experience online shopping stood at 24 percent. The figure was sec

The South Korean branches of foreign banks here saw their net profit last year grow 27.4 percent from the previous year, on the back of robust interest income, according to tracking data from the Financial Supervisory Service released Tuesday.The 38 global banks operating here, such as HSBC Bank, raised 867.3 billion won ($764 million) in 2018, marking a 27.4 percent increase from 186.6 billion won recorded the previous year, the data showed. During this time frame, their interest-led incom

The Bank of Korea has selected two domestic asset management companies to manage its foreign exchange holdings and make stock market investments in advanced economies, officials said Monday.The local AMCs will join two foreign firms which have being managing BOK’s FX holdings so far. The central bank however did not name the two firms that have been selected, in accordance with industry practices. “We will sign a consignment contract by April and put $150 million in a trust for each

Financial Services Commission selects 19 fintech services for ‘priority review’

KB Financial Group chief Yoon Jong-kyoo called for greater business expansion in the Chinese market, during talks at the Boao Forum, market watchers said Sunday.　The chairman outlined his goals at the CEO conference of the gathering on Friday, in Hainan Island. Both South Korean and Chinese government officials and business representatives attended the conference. 　Choi Jong-ku, head of the Financial Services Commission, and Korea Investment Corp, CEO Choi Hee-am were present along with some 25

Non-interest related earnings made up just 12 percent of profits generated by local banks in 2018, much below the global average, a local think tank said Sunday.　The latest findings clearly showed the high degree of dependence on interest and the need to diversify the business portfolios of lenders, the report by Korea Institute of Finance said. 　It said that out of the 45.8 trillion won (US$40.3 billion) in total profits reported by banks, non-interest earnings stood at 5.5 trillion won. 　By le

Despite the voluntary departure of the Kumho Asiana chairman last week, the main creditors of the conglomerate, which owns South Korea’s second-largest air carrier Asiana Airlines, have demanded that it sell off its high-value assets and draw up a solid loan repayment plan to improve liquidity.　The demands were pushed by Asiana Airlines’ main creditors, including the state-run Korea Development Bank, as a condition for their continued support in normalizing the airline’s financ

The number of South Korean firms that have delayed the filing of their annual reports this year nearly doubled compared to last year, data released by the nation’s main bourse operator showed Friday, in a phenomenon sparked by the reinforced external audit act. According to the Korea Exchange, seven Kospi- and Kosdaq-listed firms recently requested to extend the deadline for the filing of annual reports by one week to April 8, citing their failure to receive auditors’ opinions on the

Toss and Kiwoom buckle down to two-way race for internet-only bank biz

South Korea’s “regulatory sandbox” policy for the finance sector will take effect next week, bringing in a system of flexible regulations with the goal of accelerating innovations in financial technology.　The Special Act on Financial Innovation Support was enacted in the legislature in November last year and formally takes effect April 1. Under the legislation, the Korean government is seeking to foster emerging startups in new business arenas -- especially the fintech sector,

South Korea’s financial firms are set to compete this week to be picked as outsourced chief investment offices in charge of the government’s unemployment and industrial accident insurance funds worth a total of 28 trillion won ($24.6 billion), sources said Wednesday. The Ministry of Employment and Labor will choose one brokerage and one asset management firm from a pool of bidders, to respectively manage a state-owned 10 trillion won unemployment insurance fund and an 18 trillion won

South Korea’s fair trade authorities are investigating KT for alleged collusion in a government-issued business project -- a development that could hurt the telecom company’s chances of gaining approval to increase its stake in its internet-only bank, K bank.According to industry sources Wednesday, the Fair Trade Commission is currently investigating local telcos KT, SK Telecom, LG Uplus and Sejong Telecom on suspicions of collusion in a circuit line business project.KT has notified

Shares of Hyundai AutoEver will be traded on the country’s main stock market this week, the bourse operator said on March 27.　The ICT service provider of the world’s fifth-largest automotive conglomerate will go public on the Kospi on March 28 after the Korea Exchange gave the nod to its listing. 　The initial public offering price was set at 48,000 won ($42.3) per share, and the listing could generate around 1 trillion won in fresh capital, according to the KRX.　Hyundai AutoEver