ZURICH (AP) -- World and European champion Spain leads an unchanged top 10 teams in FIFA's latest world rankings.Ecuador at No. 12 and Haiti at No. 38 both climbed one place to highest-ever positions as 46 international matches in the past month counted toward the standings.Spain leads from Germany, Argentina, Italy and Colombia. Europe completes the top 10 with England, Portugal, Netherlands, Russia and Croatia.World Cup host Brazil remains at No. 18.Ivory Coast is the highest-ranked African te

The Financial Supervisory Service will dispatch inspectors to the headquarters of seven major credit card firms next week, in a bid to find out whether they charged retailers irregular service fees.“Starting on Jan. 21, the investigation into the overall credit card industry will be carried out over the next three weeks,” an FSS official said on Thursday.He said the financial regulator had demanded the seven issuers to tender a variety of documents on the card transaction fees on retailers befor

With the presidential transition committee’s announcement of a government reorganization plan on Tuesday, names of possible candidates for top economic policymakers are being circulated among financial circles.They include three key ministerial posts: deputy prime minister in charge of overall economic policies, who will concurrently serve as finance minister; chairman of the Financial Services Commission; and governor of the Financial Supervisory Service.Among the leading candidates for the inc

Chung Mong-koo, son of late Hyundai founder Chung Ju-yung, prioritized normalizing the management of Kia Motors when he took office as chairman of Hyundai Motor Group in 1998.Under a full-fledged effort by the Hyundai chief and vice chairman Chung Eui-sun, Kia was upgraded to a key subsidiary of the automotive group after it was acquired by Hyundai in the wake of the 1997 financial crisis.Since 2005, Kia has focused on the European market and has identified design as its “core future growth engi

Three financial firms owned by Woori Financial Group are expected to draw popularity in the mergers and acquisitions market, as financial authorities are set to resume the policy to privatize the state-funded group through a “split-sale” method this year.When the privatization process is revitalized, possibly eye-catching subsidiaries of Woori Financial could be Woori Investment & Securities, Kyongnam Bank and Kwangju Bank, according to officials in the bank industry.Their forecast comes as the

Korea could face further economic woes this year resulting from the downgrading of major countries’ credit standings, a financial research institute warned Thursday.The Korea Center for International Finance predicted in its report that the United States, the United Kingdom and Japan may see their sovereign ratings downgraded this year.It cited three major rating firms’ assessments of the countries. The firms ― Moody’s Investors Service, Standard & Poor’s and Fitch Ratings ― gave negative credit

Financial regulators are set to approve Woori Financial Group’s plan to spin off its credit card unit from Woori Bank later this month, sources said Wednesday.The Financial Services Commission and the Financial Supervisory Service held a senior-level meeting on Wednesday to fine-tune details in a preliminary step to endorse Woori Financial’s proposal to launch a stand-alone credit card operation. An FSC official said regulators will reach a final decision in the coming panel discussion, slated f

President-elect Park Geun-hye’s transition team is poised to rule out tax hikes in the coming administration’s policy to secure funds for social welfare, committee members said Tuesday.Under Park’s full-fledged welfare project, which will cost the nation more than 90 trillion won ($83.3 billion) over five years, some economists had expected that the high-income bracket and major business groups would ultimately be the main target of tax authorities.But in contrast to market prediction, a member

British American Tobacco Korea said Monday that it would reposition the price of its Dunhill Finecut Superslim product to 2,500 won ($2.30) from the current 2,700 won. The company said the reduction would take effect on Jan. 17. “The decision to reposition the price reflects current market trends. Superslim segment accounts for about 30 percent of the total tobacco market,” it said.BAT Korea CEO Guy Meldrum said, “We believe the price change will provide wider choice for consumers who are seekin

South Korea’s financial authorities will dispatch a delegation to the Middle East this week, aiming at vitalizing mutual investment in banking businesses, stocks and bonds.“The project reflects the idea of diversifying foreign direct investment sources, while the nation has mainly resorted to funds from Europe and the United States,” the delegation said in a statement.The planned cooperation with Muslim countries was initiated by the National Policy Committee of the National Assembly and the Fin

The Financial Supervisory Service is fine-tuning details to launch an investigation into the Korean operation of U.S.-based asset management firm AllianceBernstein Ltd., which made public its stock trading four years after the required timing, regulatory officials said Monday. While the financial regulator said it has yet to launch an official investigation, officials said the case has been under close watch. Its probe generally involves a paper-based review as a preliminary step. “At the presen

Korea posted the second-largest drop in labor productivity among members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development during the third quarter of 2012.According to the OECD, Korea’s labor productivity fell by 0.4 percent in the July-September period from a quarter before, along with the Czech Republic and Portugal, both of which recorded the same figure.While Norway saw its labor productivity, or the rate of output per worker per unit of time, fall heaviest by 1.3 percent, two mo