The reported capitalization of South Korean life insurers is expected to face pressure if they adopt a new international accounting standard, credit appraiser Moody's Investors Services said Tuesday.South Korean life insurers have been preparing to report financial results under International Financial Reporting Standards 17, which will go into effect in South Korea from 2021.  Stella Ng, a vice president of Moody's, said the new global accounting standard will require life insurers to meas

South Korea's finance minister held talks with the head of global investment bank Citigroup Inc. on Monday (local time) to share his views on global recovery trends and its impact on Asia's fourth-largest economy.At the meeting with Citigroup CEO Michael Corbat in New York, Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho said the South Korean economy has managed to pull off modest growth led by brisk exports which posted the fifth straight month of gains since November on the back of increased global demand.The uptu

The combined sales of South Korea's four credit rating companies fell 0.2 percent on year in 2016, due to a decline in sales of corporate bonds, data showed Tuesday. Total sales for four credit rating firms -- NICE Investors Service, Korea Investors Service, Korea Ratings and Seoul Credit Rating & Information -- stood at 82.76 billion won ($73.2 million) last year, compared to 82.95 billion won a year earlier, according to the data by the Financial Supervisory Service. Last year, sales

South Korean stocks opened higher Tuesday, led by gains in tech firms and automakers.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 2.39 points, or 0.11 percent, to 2,176.13 in the first 15 minutes of trading.Most large caps traded higher, with market kingpin Samsung Electronics adding 1.12 percent and SK hynix, a major chipmaker, remaining flat.Hyundai Motor, the No. 1 automaker, moved up 1.06 percent, while AmorePacific, the country's top cosmetics maker, shed 2.91 percent following weak

The earnings surprise of major commercial banks in South Korea in the first quarter was partly driven by their improved net interest margins, data showed Monday. The combined net profit of the four major commercial banks -- Shinhan Bank, Kookmin Bank, KEB Hana Bank and Woori Bank -- in the first quarter came to 2.28 trillion won ($2.01 billion), a 22.3 percent rise on-year, according to earnings reports by each bank last week. Excluding one-off profits, such as sell-offs of bank branches or loan

South Korean stocks finished higher on Monday, as investors' concerns over a French presidential election race abated to some degree, analysts said. The Korean won rose against the US dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 8.7 points, or 0.4 percent, to close at 2,173.74. Trade volume was moderate at 367 million shares worth 4.2 trillion won ($3.72 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 509 to 287.The local stock market opened a tad higher on news that centrist Emmanuel

South Korean stocks traded higher late Monday morning, led by gains in tech and banking stocks.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index advanced 4 points, or 0.18 percent, to 2,169.04 as of 11:15 a.m.Most large-cap stocks were mixed across the board.Top market cap Samsung Electronics rose 0.54 percent, and SK hynix, a major chipmaker, climbed 0.96 percent.Shinhan Financial, the country's most profitable banking group, gained 1.68 percent.Hyundai Motor, the No. 1 automaker, remained unchan

South Korean stocks opened higher Monday, led by gains in tech firms and banking firms.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 8.12 points, or 0.38 percent, to 2,173.16 in the first 15 minutes of trading.Most large caps traded higher, with market kingpin Samsung Electronics adding 0.69 percent and SK hynix, a major chipmaker, rising 0.96 percent.Shinhan Financial, the country's most profitable banking group, added 1.36 percent, and Posco, the No. 1 steelmaker, soared 1.85 percent.In

South Korea's major business lobby Sunday urged presidential hopefuls to observe market economy principles to create an atmosphere favorable to businesses that leads to more investments in facilities and jobs, which it said is the top priority of any presidential hopeful.The Korean Employers Federation (KEF) called on them to introduce measures to help large shareholders defend against hostile takeover bids and use substitute workers during strikes by labor unions. Such measures will be a prereq

The market capitalization of Korea’s top 30 conglomerates surged nearly 20 percent from a year ago, driven by Samsung Electronics’ share value rally, according to market data compiled by a local corporate tracker Sunday.According to a survey by CEOScore, the combined market value of the 176 listed firms owned by the country’s 30 largest business groups reached 969.9 trillion won ($853.8 billion) as of Friday, up 18.7 percent from 817.3 trillion won tallied on Jan. 1 last year.&

The governor of South Korea's central bank has said that the US expansionary fiscal policies could help the world economy and that South Korea's exports could continue to improve.BOK Gov. Lee Ju-yeol said Friday that South Korea's exports have picked up due to a recovery of the world economy. Lee made the comments in a meeting with South Korean reporters after attending the Group of 20 finance ministers and central bank governors' meeting in Washington.South Korea's exports rose for the fifth st

Tensions with North Korea haven’t had any significant impact on South Korea’s trade and investment, and a sharp rise in US interest rates is a major risk for Asia’s fourth largest economy going forward, an International Monetary Fund official said Friday.“So far, we have not seen any significant impact on South Korea’s trade investments,” Markus Rodlauer, deputy director of the Asia-Pacific department at the IMF, said during a press briefing, referring to the

The Financial Supervisory Service of Korea announced Friday that it took punitive action against Korea‘s four securities firms for receiving rebates from a securities-financing services company.The firms -- Mirae Asset Daewoo, NH Investment & Securities, Yuanta Securities Korea and Korea Investment & Securities -- were found to have received rebates in return for depositing customers’ money in the money market wrap run by Korea Securities Finance Corp.  Combined they too

Hana Financial Group Inc., a major South Korean banking group, said Friday its net profit rose 12.4 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier on increased interest income and other synergy effects.Net profit came to 492.1 billion won ($434 million) in the January-March period on a consolidated basis, up 54.2 billion won from a year ago, the group said in a regulatory filing. It marked the highest quarterly net profit since the first quarter of 2012.Hana Financial Group said it has set asi

South Korea’s top financial regulator on Friday asked heads of banks not to recklessly collect debt from the financially-troubled shipbuilders such as Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering.Zhin Woong-seob, governor of the Financial Supervisory Service, directly made such request at a meeting with CEOs of 15 commercial banks including Shinhan, Kookmin, Woori and KEB Hana, after thanking them for cooperating in the rescheduling of debt for DSME, the FSS said.The world’s largest