The number of listed firms buying back or canceling company shares increased in the first half of this year, already having surpassed 70 percent of last year's total, a corporate research report showed Tuesday.Data from the Korea Corporate Governance Service said 67 companies bought back company stocks while seven retired them in the January-June period. The sum is nearly 72 percent of 103 companies for all of 2017. The monetary sum of the transactions reached 5.3 trillion won ($4.76 billion), 2

The interim or quarterly dividend payouts by South Korea's listed firms surged this year, thanks to Samsung Electronics Co., which took steps to win back investors, data showed Tuesday. A total of 54 listed firms paid a combined 9.1 trillion won ($8.19 billion) in interim or quarterly dividends to shareholders this year, compared with 4.6 trillion won last year, according to the data by the Financial Supervisory Service.  Samsung Electronics delivered a total of 7.2 trillion won in payments

South Korea and China held working-level talks Monday to seek ways to lower trade barriers and boost investment between the two nations, Seoul's trade ministry said. South Korea's ministry of trade, industry and energy and China's commerce ministry held an investment promotion meeting in Beijing, the second such talks in four years. Senior trade officials discussed ways to create a joint industrial zone and develop investment platforms and reached an agreement to expand exchanges between compani

The combined net profit for investment advisory firms shed 7.1 percent in the second fiscal quarter from the previous quarter this year, notably from a drop in collected commission fees, a regulator's data showed Monday.The net profit at 178 firms amounted to 13 billion won ($11.58 million) for the July-September period, according to the Financial Supervisory Service. Profit from conventional asset management, such as equity values and trading, gained 43.2 percent to 15.9 billion won, but profit

South Korean banks' nonperforming loans ratio fell below one percent for the first time in 10 years, due to corporate restructuring and stricter lending rules, the financial regulator said Sunday. The NPL ratio, which measures the rate at which a bank's loans are not repaid, fell to 0.96 percent at the end of the third quarter of 2018, the lowest level since it hit 0.82 percent at the end of September, 2008, the Financial Supervisory Service said in a statement.  "Conglomerates (partic

South Korean mutual financing companies saw their earnings spike more than 47 percent in the first nine months of the year thanks to increased interest income, the financial regulator said Friday.The combined net profit of mutual financing firms came to 2.9 trillion won ($2.6 billion) during the January-September period, up 47.1 percent from a year earlier, according to the Financial Supervisory Service. The stellar bottom line was attributed mainly to a jump in interest income. Their total inte

South Korea's chief economic policymaker has stressed that reduced geopolitical risks and the country's improved economic conditions call for a rating upgrade, the finance ministry said Thursday.In a meeting with Fitch Ratings President Ian Linnell in London on Wednesday, Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon said the Seoul government will beef up the country's fiscal soundness, according to the finance ministry. Kim also stressed that the country's expansionary fiscal spending is aimed at creating mor

PRIVATE BANKING/KEB HANA BANK

FINANCIER OF THE YEAR/ WOORI BANK

The Korea Herald launched the Global Finance Awards with the understanding that in order for the South Korean economy to make new leaps in the fourth industrial revolution, it is imperative that a global-level financial ecosystem be established and that the competitiveness of the local financial industry be reinforced. The objectives of these awards are to honor financiers and financial firms that have made significant strides in providing convenient financial services with new technologies, des

SECURITIESKOREA INVESTMENT & SECURITIESKorea Investment & Securities is quickly becoming Asia’s leading investment bank, as it increases its presence in major global markets while securing a stable profit model.The Korean securities firm has been pursuing a two-track model combining investment banking with asset management and trading, with aims to develop a stable profit model. As a result of such efforts, Korea Investment & Securities posted net profit of 410.9 billion won ($

CONSUMER FINANCIAL SERVICES/ HYUNDAI CAPITAL

GENERAL INSURANCE/ SAMSUNG FIRE AND MARINE INSURANCE

INNOVATIVE SERVICES/ BANKKB KOOKMIN BANKSouth Korea’s KB Kookmin Bank is continuing to digitally transform its diverse finance service offerings, with the aim of delivering more innovative and convenient banking services to its customers in both online and offline settings.　Bringing a digital touch to traditional mobile finance apps, KB introduced a chatbot banking platform last year called “Liiv Talk Talk,” which allows customers to activate certain banking services by convers