KB Financial Group is scheduled to hold an online workshop of executives and board members led by Chairman Yoon Jong-kyoo on Friday to discuss plans for the post-virus era and digital innovation, sources close to the matter said Wednesday. Yoon is expected to adjust the time frame and specific plans for the banking group’s goals for this year including expansion of business and digital innovation. The local banking groups’ initial plans and time frame for this year –- includi

A series of listings of Korean real estate investment trusts -- including ones that involve investments in foreign properties -- are adding vigor to the upbeat initial public offering scene in the local stock market. This comes as investment houses here are moving to attract stable cash streams by luring investors to their own vehicles used to buy properties at home and abroad. In the latest move, JR Asset Management on Wednesday released a prospectus for its REIT ahead of the flotation plan

The CEO of Optimus Asset Management has been taken into custody by prosecutors for a probe into allegations that the private equity firm fraudulently solicited funds worth tens of millions of dollars from investors. The arrest came on Tuesday night shortly after the Seoul Central District Court issued the warrant for Kim Jae-hyun, citing sufficient evidence to support the criminal allegations against him and the severity of the case. The company's second-largest shareholder surnamed Lee and

Citibank Korea said Tuesday it has launched an artificial intelligence-based chatbot consulting service to bolster its untact (contactless) digital customer service. According to the South Korean subsidiary of the New York-based bank, the service provides round-the-clock consulting for customers that need immediate consulting. It can be used after adding Citibank channel via messenger app KakaoTalk. The AI chatbot will help customers find the nearest Citibank branch and provide information

South Korea’s cash-strapped flag carrier Korean Air Lines said Tuesday it plans to sell its inflight meal catering and duty-free units to local private equity firm Hahn & Co. “As for the divestment of inflight catering services and duty-free operations, Korean Air has given Hahn & Co. the exclusive rights to negotiate,” it said in a disclosure after a board meeting at 4 p.m. “Korean Air will continue to discuss the details about the transaction with Hahn &

South Korea’s state-run policy lender Export-Import Bank of Korea plans to offer a $76 million-plus loan to Pakistan for IT-related projects including electronic intelligence, a top official told The Korea Herald on Monday. Eximbank established the Economic Development Cooperation Fund in 1987 to support industrialization and economic growth in developing countries as well as promote bilateral economic exchanges. “The size of the loan and project is expected to be larger than the

Authorities vow to expand open banking system to second-tier financial institutions in December

South Korea’s NH NongHyup Bank said Monday it has received final approval from Myanmar’s financial authorities to launch and operate a subsidiary in the Southeast Asian country. The announcement comes 10 months after the lender submitted an application to the Central Bank of Myanmar, which handles financial supervisory of state-owned, private and foreign banks in the country. NH NongHyup has been operating a microfinancing institution in Myanmar since 2016 and has worked as a st

Head of Assetplus bets on luxury goods, platform economy, urges fund managers to remain consistent in style

Gen2 Partners, a Hong Kong-based hedge fund, has notified South Korean financial institutions of a fund freeze regardless of the deadlines for fund redemption, according to news reports Sunday. This comes as its flagship fund using a leveraged scheme suffered losses due to the coronavirus outbreak, facing a liquidity crunch. The Korean entities dedicated to pooling investor money for Gen2 Partners’ multistrategy funds include brokerage houses Shinhan Investment, Kiwoom Securities and S

The number of fake South Korean banknotes found here continued to decline in the first half, and the combined face value of the counterfeits also dropped sharply, central bank data showed Sunday. In the January-June period, the number of counterfeit banknotes found here came to 129, down 19.4 percent from 160 bills found a year earlier, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK). The half-year tally marks a steady decline since the second half of 2017. The combined face value of the counterfeits f

Major banks in South Korea saw their time deposits decline from a month earlier in June, while their money market deposits jumped sharply, apparently suggesting more people were hoping to invest their money amid record low interest rates but were unable to do so amid a coronavirus-caused slump, data showed Thursday. According to the data from five major local lenders, the combined outstanding time deposits at the banks came to 633.1 trillion won ($526 billion) as of end-June, down more than 10

South Korea’s financial watchdog Financial Supervisory Service on Wednesday urged 10 financial institutions to fully compensate for investors’ losses, holding them accountable for their inadvertent decision to draw investments in the disgraced Lime Asset Management’s trade finance fund. In an unprecedented move, financial institutions -- including seven banks and three brokerage houses -- will be forced to reimburse a total of 161.1 billion won ($133.8 million) in principal of

Korean private equity firm JC Partners has become a preferred bidder to buy a controlling stake in KDB Life Insurance, in policy lender Korea Development Bank’s move to exit from a troubled financial institution that has strived to turn around amid restructuring. JC Partners was the sole participant in the open bidding process to sell KDB Life Insurance, whose 92.73 percent stake is jointly controlled by KDB and investment house Consus Private Equity, according to KDB on Wednesday. The bi

South Korea’s National Pension Service said Tuesday it has selected five private equity firms as external partners to invest a combined 800 billion won ($665.28 million) in private equities. According to the world’s third-largest public pension fund, it will commit 160 billion won each to Glenwood Private Equity, Macquarie Asset Management Korea, SkyLake Investment, IMM Investment and JKL Partners. The firms will be responsible for managing funds with a 10-year maturity. Investmen