Financial Supervisory Service Gov. Kim Jong-chang speaks during a meeting with chief executives of credit card companies on Monday.  (Kim Myung-sub/The Korea Herald)The nation’s chief financial regulator on Monday expressed his strong resolve to tighten supervision of credit card issuers, warning their excessive competition could bring the industry to a new crisis. In his breakfast meeting with CE

Hana group nominates veteran financier ahead of acquisitionHana Financial Group chose Yun Yong-ro, former CEO of Industrial Bank of Korea, as president & CEO of Korea Exchange Bank, company officials said Monday.The nation’s fourth-largest financial group is poised to take over KEB and its executive recommendation committee proposed to the group’s board members that Yun head the new banking unit.T

The Bank of Korea is under intense pressure to raise the benchmark interest rate for March after keeping the rate unchanged last month despite spiraling consumer prices.Analysts have widely criticized the Monetary Policy Committee of the central bank, accusing it of missing the opportunity to make timely increases in the interest rate since the latter half of 2010.Woori Futures research analyst Ch

CEO says company will focus on product diversity and convergence with telecom sectorKB Kookmin Card set out its ambition to take the No. 1 position in the domestic market as the former Kookmin Bank unit, restarted as a separate corporation on Wednesday.KB Financial Group launched the stand-alone credit card firm eight years after the money-spinning unit was merged into the bank in 2003.The unit ha

Shinhan Financial Group has granted stock options to its former chairman Ra Eung-chan, who resigned in October over alleged irregularities.Board members of the nation’s third-largest financial group recently endorsed a proposition that Ra be entitled to stock option rights, industry sources said on Tuesday.The stock options amounted to more than 300,000 shares. Considering the group’s stock price

Financial Services Commission Chairman Kim Seok-dong pledged Thursday to toughen punishment on trading irregularities in the financial industry one day after the government partly suspended Deutsche Bank’s local unit for stock manipulation. Concerning the speculation that Deutsche Bank may pull its investments out of the Korean market, he told reporters, “I don’t care about that (on whether or not

The nation’s chief financial regulator on Monday strived to calm jitters among savings banks’ clients amid the growing fears of a bank run.Financial Services Commission Chairman Kim Seok-dong called them to refrain from withdrawing their deposits, which would make more banks face business suspension.His remarks came after a great number of depositors pulled out their cash from the secondary financ

FSC suspends 4 more second-tier banks 2 days after promising no new suspensions in H1Financial regulators’ ongoing crackdown on savings banks is increasing the chances of a bank run under which a great number of customers withdraw their deposits.The Financial Services Commission suspended operations of four more saving banks over the weekend, raising the possibility of a massive exit by depositors

Troubled company’s CEO scans production lines at home and abroadLG Electronics’ top man Koo Bon-joon’s air mileage must be piling up at record speed with all the overseas trips he has logged since taking over the distressed electronics maker last September.Koo, 50, has been particularly travel-happy over the past few months, according to those close to the company, embarking on frequent trips to e