Moody’s says Korean banks vulnerable to eurozone debt crisisA global investment bank cited the central bank’s monetary policy as a key solution to resolving the growing worries over the record-high household debt.Goldman Sachs predicted that a soft landing of Korea’s household debt will be possible according to the Bank of Korea’s interest rate-setting.Its optimistic view could be contradictory to the prevailing anxiety in the market that household debt is a ticking time-bomb as outstanding cons

Companies’ decision reflects government move to cope with delinquent loansCredit card companies decided to lower the interest rates on customers’ overdue payments by a maximum of 1 percentage point.Their move comes after the Financial Supervisory Service issued a warning against reckless credit card loans with high interest rates.Major firms ― Shinhan Card, KB Kookmin Card, Samsung Card, Lotte Card and Hana SK Card ― will slash the extra rates on delinquent loans.Shinhan Card, the nation’s No. 1

Foreign carmakers grabbed nearly 9 percent of the automobile market in Korea last month, marking the second-highest monthly share in history.According to the Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association, sales of import cars came to 9,441 units in January, up 9 percent from a year earlier.The import cars accounted for 8.92 percent of the combined sales, including made-in-Korea cars, totaling 105,889 units last month.Their market share is the second-highest since they posted 8.96 perce

About 1 million stores participate in protest to demand reduction of service chargesA million retailers nationwide are set to boycott payment via Shinhan Card from Feb. 20.Their protest against the nation’s largest credit card firm is due to the card industry’s lukewarm attitude toward cutting settlement service charges on retailers.Members of the retailer association notified consumers on Monday that they will not accept Shinhan Card for payment of goods.The retailers reportedly demanded cuttin

Ministry’s excluding KDB from list of public agencies ignites pros and consThe government’s recent decision to exclude KDB Financial Group from the list of public corporations has paved the way for the lender to speed up its privatization project, financial sources said.In late January, the Finance Ministry took the state-run financial group off the yearly list of public agencies.But the government’s policy, which has paved the way for KDB Financial to push for a stake sale, is inviting contradi

Lenders see combined profit reach 12 trillion won, up 29.2% from a year beforeKorean banks posted a robust combined profit last year on the back of their record-high earnings from service charges.According to the Financial Supervisory Service, banks’ 2011 earnings came to about 12 trillion won ($10.5 billion), up 29.2 percent from 9.3 trillion won a year earlier.Noticeably, their earnings from service fees, including those on transactions via automated teller machines, marked an all-time high of

Board of Audit and Inspection to examine FSC, FSS until Feb. 24The Board of Audit and Inspection launched an intensive investigation into the nation’s two financial regulators on Monday.The state auditor, which completed its preliminary audit earlier this month, will carry out an intensive audit on the Financial Services Commission and the Financial Supervisory Service between Jan. 30 and Feb. 24.The audit comes after the FSC endorsed Hana Financial Group’s application to take over Korea Exchang

U.S. luxury cars manufacturers like Cadillac and Lincoln, respectively run by GM and Ford, are struggling to win back a share of the expanding luxury car market, largely controlled by Japanese and German automakers.These brands, which once embodied the very essence of luxury cars, saw quality decline in the years before the industry crisis, and drivers abandoned them in their droves.Now they must recover their former glory by improving entry-level models, which was not their strong suit, but whi

Financial regulators endorsed the deal between Hana Financial Group and Lone Star Funds to trade shares of Korea Exchange Bank.Hana Financial has been allowed to take over KEB, which has been owned by the U.S.-based fund since 2003, the Financial Services Commission said Friday.The FSC ultimately has not accepted the opinion among a group of lawmakers and the KEB union that Lone Star has been ineligible to own the bank and the merger deal is invalid.In a statement, the regulator reaffirmed its e