Chairman to retain leadership despite conviction on some of the accusations against him

Foreign currency deposits held by banks in South Korea rose sharply from a month earlier in December, central bank data showed Tuesday, apparently on the weakening of the US greenback that prompted both individuals and firms to boost their dollar holdings. The outstanding foreign currency deposits here came to $79.44 billion as of end-December, up $4.57 billion from a month before, according to ...

Fate of Shinhan, Woori, Hana chiefs to be decided Wednesday

South Korean biopharmaceutical firm Celltrion’s key affiliates said Friday they have yet to set a clear blueprint in regards to Chairman Seo Jung-jin’s hint at the blockbuster merger of Celltrion, Celltrion Healthcare and Celltrion Pharm by as early as 2021. “The company is considering the merger plan on the premise of shareholder agreement, but we have yet to make any confirmation as to how and...

Woori Financial Group, South Korea’s fourth-largest banking group by assets, walked away from a bid to buy a 100 percent stake in Prudential Life Insurance of Korea, according to the group on Thursday. Woori Financial, Korea’s only banking group without an insurance unit, did not join the preliminary bidding round for the sale of a 2 trillion-won ($1.73 billion) stake in Prudential Financial’s K...

Alpha Holdings, the largest shareholder of Nasdaq-listed OncoSec Medical, is pinning hopes on its last-ditch efforts to prevent a takeover of the biopharmaceutical firm by Chinese entities, ahead of its special shareholders meeting on Friday. The South Korean shareholder of OncoSec proposed to have controlling stake and hold four out of seven seats on the New Jersey-based firm’s board by injecti...

Woori Financial Group is taking a cautious approach in naming the new chief of its flagship banking business due largely to the recent debacle involving the sale of high-risk private funds, according to industry sources Wednesday. The group initially planned to complete the appointment of an Woori Bank CEO before the Lunar New Year holidays, which fall Jan. 24-27. The Financial Supervisory Serv...

US investment firm Capital Group Companies has offloaded a 2.56 percent stake in South Korea’s largest carmaker Hyundai Motor for 660.8 billion won ($570.9 million), according to a regulatory filing on Wednesday. With the stock sale, Capital Group, through its 32 specially related parties including funds and subsidiaries, now owns 4.54 percent voting rights in Hyundai Motor, which controls car b...

Hanwha Systems reached a final close on its cross-border $25 million investment in California-based electric takeoff and landing, or eVTOL, aircraft developer Overair, the Korean aero systems firm said Wednesday. With the investment, Hanwha Systems will own a 30 percent stake in the US company, which currently runs a development project for eVTOL vehicle Butterfly. The close of Overair’s Series...

The number of banknotes and coins destroyed due to damage or contamination reached a 10-year high in 2019, with the face value of the damaged bills and coins growing slightly from a year earlier, the central bank said Wednesday. The Bank of Korea said it had to replace some 640 million banknotes and coins in the year, the most since 2009 and up 2.2 percent from about 630 million a year earlier. ...

The fundraising plan of Seoul-based investment bank Hi Investment & Securities to fetch a combined 217.5 billion won ($187.8 million) is facing obstacles due to a possible court injunction. A total of 16 plaintiffs are seeking legal action to halt Hi Investment & Securities’ plan to raise 100 billion won by issuing 62.5 million redeemable and convertible preference shares, the investment bank sa...

Influencer marketer Marketit said Tuesday that it has attracted 5 billion won ($4.3 million) from investors including AlpenRoute Asset Management. AlpenRoute was one of the early investors in Big Hit Entertainment, the agency behind global pop sensation BTS, and Market Kurly, a startup unicorn that operates a grocery delivery platform. With the new funding, the startup has secured 7 billion won...

President Moon urges labor union to accept chief’s appointment

Global investment bank Goldman Sachs and SK Holdings said Monday they plan to jointly invest 50 billion won ($43.3 million) in Belstar Superfreeze, a South Korean entity that develops and operates cold warehouses powered by liquefied natural gas. Belstar in the first tranche will raise 25 billion won funding each from Goldman Sachs and the holding company of conglomerate SK Group. The two invest...

Seoul office confirms exclusion, but denies female leadership was an issue