The Export-Import Bank of Korea said Friday it has clinched a loan deal with its Chinese counterpart to provide Korean firms with loans and guarantees for their overseas projects.Under the agreement, Eximbank Korea will extend a loan to a domestic company doing business in another country, with the Export-Import Bank of China giving a guarantee on the company’s equipment if it is made in China to be used in the overseas project, the Seoul-based policy lender said in a statement.The joint loan an

Big money lenders are scrapping a joint liability system from next month, financial sources said Friday, to fall in line with the regulator’s efforts to reform the outdated lending practice and prevent a chain of defaults.Five major money lenders, including A&P Financial Co. which owns top player Rush N Cash, have decided to abolish the joint surety system on fresh loans from July 1, according to the companies and the Financial Services Commission, the financial watchdog.A joint surety states th

The government plans to increase the cash rewards given to people reporting tax evasion or providing related information to authorities, the Finance Ministry said Friday.According to the ministry, the government will sharply increase the amount given to those tipping off authorities about tax evasions starting from July. In some cases, the amount will triple.Under the revised rules, those who report evasion worth 500 million won ($437,445) to authorities can receive 75 million won as a cash rewa

South Korea’s industrial output shrank in May from a month earlier amid heightened global economic uncertainty, a government report showed Friday.According to the report by Statistics Korea, production in the mining, manufacturing, gas and electricity industries shrank 0.4 percent last month from a month earlier. From a year earlier, it also fell 1.4 percent.The drop came a month after the output turned around from four previous months of contractions. The output in the service sector still edge

The number of irregular business practices in the securities and insurance sectors, has surged this year, financial regulators revealed on Friday.According to the Financial Supervisory Service, 29 securities firms’ headquarters or branches were sanctioned in the first half of the year for breaching regulatory rules.They included Samsung Securities, Woori Investment & Securities, Kyobo Securities, Daishin Securities, SK Securities, Hana Daetoo Securities and NongHyup Securities.The FSS also repri

Ecuador on Thursday waived preferential rights granted under a trade agreement with the United States, in a show of independence as it considers asylum for fugitive US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden."Ecuador unilaterally and irrevocably renounces these preferential customs tariff rights," Communications Minister Fernando Alvarado, said, reading from a government statement."Ecuador does not accept pressure or threats from anyone, and does not trade on principles or make them contingent on com

South African President Jacob Zuma said Thursday that the condition of ailing anti-apartheid hero Nelson Mandela had improved overnight and was now critical but stable."He is much better today than he was when I saw him last night. The medical team continues to do a sterling job," Zuma said in a statement.After visiting Mandela for a second time in 24 hours, Zuma urged SouthAfricans to pray for the 94-year-old former president.Zuma "was informed by the medical team that Madiba's condition has im

Korea’s stock market suffered major losses in the past week, hit by the credit tightening fears in China, which emerged as a fresh negative factor in addition to the U.S. policy to scale back stimulus.Affected by the two biggest economies’ simultaneous moves toward monetary tightening, the benchmark KOSPI lost for the fifth consecutive trading session to close at 1,780.63 on Tuesday. It dropped 18.38 points, or 1.02 percent, from a session earlier.Seoul shares dropped 119.99 points, or 6.3 perce

The Financial Supervisory Service has launched a full-fledged investigation into the so-called “propriety” of the income level for chief executives in the financial industry.The investigation comes as criticism is mounting that CEOs of financial companies were paid “excessively” high amounts despite their companies’ falling profitability.Regulatory officials said that “despite an overall drop in earnings of financial firms last year, some CEOs and other board members were found to have enjoyed h

Korea’s financial authorities plan to strengthen coordination and communication with the Group of 20 countries in an effort to minimize market volatility from the U.S. policy to retrieve its state funds.“We are set to seek closer interchanges with major countries’ governments and central banks via chances like the G20 finance ministers’ gathering, slated for July,” Vice Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho said in an extraordinary meeting of monetary policymakers and regulators on Sunday.Choo, however

Though some state and private think tanks had painted a rosy picture for Korea’s GDP growth in the second half, recent remarks by U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke have emerged as a fresh factor for uncertainty.Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hyun Oh-seok said last Monday that economic growth is projected to reach 3 percent or more in the latter half of 2013 and 4 percent in 2014.Some private research institutes also predicted higher growth rates, compared to the estimated 2

Commercial banks are scaling back their operating networks and hiring amid a retreat in earnings.First-tier lenders’ lower profitability is mainly attributable to soured loans from growing corporate insolvency and the reduced margin between their deposits and loans, according to research analysts.As an emergency remedy, major banks have slashed the number of branches through mergers or closures. Manpower restructuring due to branch integration is also expected in the industry.Shinhan Bank saw it

Korea’s chief financial regulator Choi Soo-hyun reiterated that enhanced consumer protection in the insurance industry would guarantee insurers a brighter future.Insurance companies may see consumer protection as yet another cost to their business, said Financial Supervisory Service Gov. Choi in his keynote address during the 49th annual seminar of the International Insurance Society in Seoul on Tuesday.“But, from a long-term perspective, strong consumer protection means strong consumer confiden