South Korea’s Hana Financial Group has nominated Vice Chairman Ham Young-joo to be the next chairman of the banking group. On Tuesday, firm’s chairman nomination committee tapped Ham as the sole nominee for the position, citing his performance in generating profit and bolstering stability in business. Ham has also shown “extraordinary leadership” in managing the group and is expected to lead Han...

The amount of money South Korean firms raised through initial public offerings (IPOs) more than quadrupled to hit a record high last year thanks to ample liquidity and the overall bullish stock market sentiment, data showed Monday. A total of 89 companies went public in 2021 by listing stocks on the benchmark KOSPI and secondary tech-heavy KOSDAQ markets and raised a combined 19.7 trillion won (...

Employees at South Korean financial firms will receive up to four times their monthly salary as their bonuses for 2021, backed by booming business, sources said Sunday. Woori Bank, one of the major commercial lenders here, has recently agreed with its union to hand its employees performance bonuses worth 300 percent of their monthly salaries plus some 1 million won ($830), according to industry ...

Local bank synthesizes facial features of its human staff to create faces of its virtual staff

The daily foreign exchange (FX) trading by banks in South Korea hit a record high in 2021 amid increased demand from strong exports, imports and foreigners' investment in local financial markets, central bank data showed Wednesday. The daily FX turnover came to an average $58.31 billion last year, up 10.3 percent from $52.84 billion tallied a year earlier, according to the data from the Bank of ...

South Korea’s central bank said Monday that it has successfully completed the pilot testing of issuance and distribution of digital currency. The Bank of Korea has wrapped up the first phase of its two-part mock testing of the central bank digital currency in December and has been carrying out the second phase “smoothly.” Once the second phase wraps up in June, the BOK plans to start discussion...

CEO Jin Ok-dong of Woori’s rival Shinhan Bank echoed Kwon at the firm’s business strategy meeting held both offline and online Friday. The event was held at SK Olympic Handball Gymnasium in eastern Seoul and streamed via YouTube simultaneously. “For the firm’s 40th anniversary, we must dream again of a bank where customers seek before we seek them,” Jin told his employees. He quoted “Customers ...

South Korea's state pension fund lowered its exposure to large cap and other domestic shares in 2021 in an apparent bid to boost returns and diversify its portfolio, a corporate tracker said Wednesday. The National Pension Service (NPS) held stakes of 5 percent or more in 265 companies listed on the country's major and secondary bourses as of end-2021, down 10 from a year earlier, according to C...

With government restrictions on loans getting tighter and financial technology firms expanding their presence, South Korean banks are turning to their wealthiest clients and their asset management as a survival tactic this year. NongHyup Bank CEO Kwon Joon-hak pledged Monday to adopt a new model that connects customers with wealth managers through its own digital channel. He said he plans to pro...

South Korea's money supply expanded in November as savings increased due in part to rising interest rates, central bank data showed Wednesday. The country's M2, a key gauge of the money supply, stood at 3,589.1 trillion won ($3.01 trillion) on average in November, up 1.1 percent, or 39.4 trillion won, from a month earlier, according to the preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). The grow...

The state-run Export-Import Bank of Korea (Exim Bank) said Thursday that it has issued $3 billion worth of dollar bonds to foreign investors. The state lender has sold three-year bonds worth $1 billion, another $1 billion in five-year bonds and $1 billion worth of debt that will mature in 10 years. It marks the largest-ever issuance of foreign-currency bonds among local institutions except the ...

South Korea's foreign reserves declined for the second straight month in December as the country redeemed some of the maturing foreign currency stabilization bonds, central bank data showed Wednesday. The country's foreign reserves came to $463.12 billion as of end-December, down $790 million from the previous month, according to the data provided by the Bank of Korea (BOK). This marked the sec...

Leaders of traditional banks say growing clout of Big Techs, fintechs are threats

Samsung C&T said it has signed a deal to build an undersea high-voltage direct current network that connects the United Arab Emirates’ offshore oil production facilities and Abu Dhabi’s land power network. Samsung C&T said it would form a consortium with Belgian construction company Jan De Nul for the engineering, procurement and construction project worth 3.5 trillion won ($3 billion). Samsung...

Lotte Card recently launched a new credit card series that aims to offer best deals for shopping, dining out and more for millennials and Gen Z customers. The four cards under its so-called Loca Likit series – Loca Likit 1.2, Loca Likit Eat, Loca Likit Play and Loka Likit Shop – offers its users different discounts and cost-effective options for the shops they want. Loca Likit 1.2 pays 1.2 perc...