South Korea’s current account surplus rose to a two-year high last year amid the prolonged economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, mainly due to a sharp fall in imports and overseas trips, central bank data showed Friday.  The country’s current account surplus for 2020 amounted to $75.28 billion -- up $15.6 billion, or 26.1 percent, from the previous year -- according to preliminary figures released by the Bank of Korea.  This marked the highest current account sur

South Korea’s market watchdog has informed top executives at Woori Financial Group and Shinhan Bank they may be punished over a financial fraud scandal involving Lime Asset Management, Financial Supervisory Service officials and industry sources said Thursday.  Sohn Tae-seung, the incumbent Woori Financial Group Chairman and former chief executive of Woori Bank, was informed that he may be suspended from his duties, which is the second-heaviest reproach in the regulator’s five

  South Korea’s top financial regulator said Wednesday that it has decided to extend a temporary ban on short selling until May 2, amid growing pressure from retail investors voicing concerns over possible damages in battles with sophisticated hedge funds. The ban was previously set to end March 15.  The Financial Services Commission will then implement a partial reactivation of short selling from May 3, while establishing a stock loan system in the meantime, which enables ret

South Korea’s top financial regulator has advised the nation’s internet-only lenders to expand the supply of loan products for borrowers with low to moderate credit scores, officials said Wednesday. “While the percentage of those with credit scores below 4 on a scale of 1 to 10 accounted for nearly 40 percent of all borrowers at first-tier banks, the country’s existing internet-only lenders Kakao Bank and K bank posted some 36 percent and 20 percent, respectively,”

The number of new credit loans via overdraft accounts has been on a sharp rise as South Korean retail investors are scrambling to borrow money for stock investment, fueled by a recent market bull run, industry data showed Sunday. The five major banks here -- KB Kookmin, Shinhan, Hana, Woori and NH NongHyup -- saw their customers open a total of 43,143 overdraft accounts between Jan.1-28, which equates to a combined average of nearly 2,000 daily. The overdraft balance surged by 1.21 trillion w

South Korea’s top financial regulator said Thursday it has decided to advise major banks to maintain their dividend payouts below 20 percent of net income during the first half of this year in response to the prolonged economic fallout of COVID-19.  Under the latest guidance by the Financial Services Commission, local lenders are expected to cut payments to shareholders by about 5 to 7 percentage points. Last year, the country’s four major banking groups -- KB Financial, Shinha

The price gap between high and low-priced apartments nationwide widened to the highest level in 12 years in December last year, showing deepening housing polarization in the country, according to data Wednesday.  Apartment prices of the top 20 percent group reached an average of 951.6 million won ($861,198) in December, soaring by more than 200 million won from a year earlier, the monthly housing price trend report released by KB Kookmin Bank showed. Meanwhile, prices of low-cost apartme

The International Monetary Fund has raised its growth outlook for South Korea this year to 3.1 percent from the earlier figure of 2.9 percent estimated in October last year, the Ministry of Economy and Finance said Tuesday. The nation’s economic growth projection improved largely thanks to the government’s aggressive policy responses to the COVID-19 crisis, including economic stimulus packages as well as strict quarantine measures, according to a report released by the ministry on

South Korea’s market watchdog Financial Supervisory Service is slated to order local banks that sold the problematic funds structured by Lime Asset Management to compensate investors who were victims in the massive fraud, officials said Monday. Lime Asset has been under an FSS probe since July 2019 for having concealed huge losses and inflated investment returns to keep its customer base. It suspended fund redemption worth an estimated 1.6 trillion won ($1.4 billion). The dispute arbit

Woori Financial Group Chairman Sohn Tae-seung has urged the group‘s subsidiaries to gear up for business innovation this year by benchmarking global tech giants Amazon and Google, officials said Sunday.  “Just as the innovative tech behemoths Amazon and Google did, let’s seek innovation with a mindset like it’s always day one, to get back to the basics and start work with a renewed mind and to surprise the market by achieving a groundbreaking performance,” s

  South Korea’s financial authorities on Thursday unveiled a comprehensive policy framework that obligates listed firms to disclose corporate information on investment activities related to environmental, social and governance standards, so-called ESG, in phases. Under the envisioned scheme jointly released by the policymaking Financial Services Commission, the market watchdog Financial Supervisory Service and the country’s sole bourse operator Korea Exchange, companies liste

South Korea‘s top financial regulator said Wednesday it has granted preliminary approval for Netherlands-based brokerage house IMC to operate its financial investment and brokerage business in the country.  The move came after the Dutch firm had requested the Financial Services Commission’s approval in June last year. The brokerage obtained the authority‘s final nod on the condition that its Seoul-based subsidiary serves as a market maker -- a member of an exchange comm

Seeking to boost a green-led economic recovery in the post-pandemic era, South Korea’s government vowed Wednesday to spend 30 trillion won ($27.39 billion) to support local exports of renewable energy and other clean technologies. “South Korea should take a lead in the global market for green and digital businesses by embracing the ongoing paradigm shift to a green and digital economy triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic,” Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki s

South Korea is likely to overtake Italy in gross national income per capita as its economic growth rate fared well compared to the European economy, according to the Bank of Korea Tuesday.  The nation’s GNI per capita last year is estimated to have decreased from $32,115 in 2019 to reach around $31,000 as its nominal gross domestic product growth rate hit zero amid the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, officials said.  However, South Korea’s GNI per capita is to outpace the Eu

KB Financial Group Chairman Yoon Jong-kyoo on Monday urged the group’s employees to strive to gain a digital foothold in the banking industry to become the nation’s No. 1 financial platform company.  “While maintaining traditional core values as a financial institution, KB Financial Group should become a complete digital organization as well as financial platform company in the long run,” said Yoon at a strategic management meeting held online. During the online

The South Korean government plans to create 1.04 million new jobs in the public sector in an effort to tackle the pandemic employment shock, according to the nation’s first vice minister of finance Friday.  “To offer job opportunities to low-income households and young job seekers hit hard by the COVID-19 crisis, (the government) aims to create 1.04 million state-backed jobs by the end of this year, which is up nearly 10 percent from the previous year’s job-creating pr

The market watchdog Financial Supervisory Service will launch a three-week comprehensive inspection of Samsung Securities on Monday, officials said Thursday. The comprehensive inspection on the nation’s leading brokerage will be the first of its kind since April 2018, when the firm was under FSS inspection over a dividend fiasco in which it mistakenly paid stocks to employees as dividends instead of cash dividends. During the planned inspection, the financial authorities will mainly look

South Korea’s top financial regulator has vowed to eliminate regulatory hurdles and outdated rules that hinder local financial companies from rolling out innovative services. “The year 2021 is a crucial time for the country as we need to overcome the economic fallout from COVID-19 and carry out future strategies for taking a lead in the post-COVID era,” Financial Services Commission Vice Chairman Doh Kyu-sang said during an online meeting on the future outlook and competitiv

If the aging population continues to rise, the ratio of value-added taxes to the nation’s gross domestic product will sharply drop, raising calls for the government’s tax rises to meet the costs of supporting the economy, a recent study showed Tuesday. A value-added tax is a type of indirect tax levied on consumption spending on goods and services by the government, with the purpose of raising funds to operate public programs, including construction of social infrastructures or soci

The Industrial Bank of Korea said Sunday it will officially launch and operate a local subsidiary in Yangon, the largest city of Myanmar as early as this month, which marks its third overseas unit, following its operation in China and Indonesia.  Branded as IBK Bank Myanmar, its new overseas subsidiary was designed to handle various banking services, including corporate financing, personal financial management as well as foreign exchange business, officials said.  Through the newly