The amount of “jeonse” loans for homes extended to Koreans in their 20s and 30s surged by nearly 60 trillion won ($50.9 billion) in the last five years, raising alarm over the growing household debt burden among young borrowers, a lawmaker said Friday.  Jeonse is a housing lease system unique to Korea whereby tenants pay a lump-sum deposit instead of monthly rent on a two-year contract. The outstanding balance of jeonse loans at five major lenders here -- KB Kookmin Bank, Shin

South Korea’s KB Financial Group said Thursday its net profit in the January-September period came to 3.7 trillion won ($3.14 billion), eclipsing last year’s annual net profit. KB’s net profit in the first nine months of the year jumped 31.1 percent on-year and surpassed last year’s annual net profit of 3.4 trillion won, hitting a record high for the cited period. Onlookers said that the banking group is likely to see a record high for fiscal 2021 as well, likely surpas

Blackstone-backed handbag maker Simone Acc Collection said Thursday it has dropped its plan to go public, dashing hopes for the New York-based private fund investor’s exit from its South Korean portfolio firm. According to the filing with the Financial Supervisory Service, Simone has canceled the upcoming plans for an IPO and listing on the Korea Exchange. Its lead underwriters were Samsung Securities and Mirae Asset Securities. The news came after its two-day book building targeting in

Eight out of 10 young Koreans are currently investing in stocks, funds, cryptocurrencies and other assets, and their main purpose behind making such investments is to buy a home, a survey showed Thursday. According to the survey conducted by insurance agency Rich Planner Consulting Co. on 1,000 Koreans in their 20s and 30s, 88.2 percent of them answered they are investing in stocks. Nearly 35 percent said they are trading cryptocurrency. For the purpose of investment, 42.2 percent of young in

Shinhan Bank said Thursday it has opened an office in Hungary, becoming the first South Korean commercial lender to enter the central European country. The flagship lender under the nation’s No. 1 banking group by assets said it was granted the license to operate by the Hungarian National Bank in September and opened the office Tuesday. It also marked Shinhan’s latest overseas market entry since the launch of its subsidiary in Mexico in 2018. The new office is expected to bolste

US-based investment manager BlackRock has become the third-largest shareholder of energy services company Hanwha Solutions, a filing showed Wednesday. BlackRock’s 11 affiliated entities were holding a combined 5.08 percent stake in Hanwha Solutions -- which is dedicated to petrochemicals, advanced materials and solar energy -- as of Friday, according to the disclosure filed with the Financial Supervisory Service. Solely on Friday, BlackRock had invested 65.4 billion won ($55.6 million)

South Korean mobile payment app operator Kakao Pay embarked on a two-day book building process targeting institutional investors Wednesday, following delays due to local authorities’ requests. The result will determine at which price a share of Kakao Pay, the Ant Group-backed financial technology firm, would be offered, as well as the proceeds Kakao Pay will be able to attract through the initial public offering, ahead of its proposed market debut on Nov. 3. Korean analysts are valuing

Legally suggested brokerage fees were lowered around 50 percent starting Tuesday, over implementation of the related law revised to reduce burden on soaring housing prices. For those selling or buying a house worth more than 1 billion won, real estate agents can receive commissions up to 5 million won, 4 million won down from up to 9 million won, according to new guidelines. For “jeonse” and monthly rent contracts worth also over 1 billion won, agents can demand brokerage fees up to

Stock-secured borrowing by the families of South Korea’s conglomerate founders amounted to almost 5 trillion won ($4.3 billion), led by managerial transfers and business restructuring, data showed Monday.  According to local market analysis company Leaders Index, as of October the nation’s 29 family-controlled conglomerates had received a combined 4.82 trillion won worth of loans backed by stocks in the groups’ affiliates, up 92 percent from 2.5 trillion in the first half

South Korea’s Hana Bank on Monday said it has teamed up with the nation’s top automakers Hyundai Motor and Kia alongside fintech startup Finda to develop financial services and products tied to connected car technologies. A connected car refers to a car equipped with internet access, usually a wireless local area network. This allows the car to share internet access and data with other devices inside and outside the vehicle. Though details are currently in the works, Hana plans to

Seoul-based impact investment fund sees ‘tremendous’ opportunity in climate technology in 10 years, aims to build foreign deal pipelines

South Korea‘s major banks are set to loosen control on extension of “jeonse” loans for homes, but their tightened grip over personal credit loans will continue under pressure from financial authorities, industry sources said Sunday. Jeonse is a housing lease system unique to Korea whereby tenants pay a lump-sum deposit instead of monthly rent on a two-year contract. NH NongHyup Bank, which in August decided to temporarily stop offering jeonse loans until Nov. 30, will resume

South Korean private equity firm STIC Investments is poised to carry out a backdoor listing to start trading on the domestic stock market in December, a filing showed Sunday.  Following the move, STIC Investments will become the first Seoul-based private equity investment manager to be listed in three years. Seoul is home to high-profile buyout powerhouses including MBK Partners, Hahn & Co. and IMM Private Equity -- none of which are listed on the stock market. According to the f

The state-run Korea Development Bank extended or guaranteed loans worth a combined 10.3 trillion won ($8.7 billion) for fossil fuel projects in the last decade, data showed Friday, reflecting growing concerns about greenwashing in the nation’s financial sector. From 2011 to 2020, the KDB extended loans worth a total of 6.9 trillion won and guaranteed a further 3.3 trillion won worth of loans for natural gas or oil projects, data submitted by the state-run bank to ruling Democratic Party

Sydney-based investment manager Alceon has raised a combined 55 billion won ($46.3 million) of capital from a South Korean institutional investor for its nonbank loan strategies designed to finance Australian real estate development projects. Alceon‘s senior debt vehicle, named Alceon Australian Real Estate Corporate Senior Loan Fund, received capital from Korean allocator ABL Life Insurance from last year until September, bringing its fund under management to A$383 million ($283 million)