South Korean brokerages posted worse-than-expected third-quarter net profit, data from the Financial Supervisory Service showed Sunday, with the lackluster performance attributed to a sluggish stock market coupled with local investors’ soured sentiment toward derivative products. According to the FSS’ electronic disclosure board, five major brokerages that have disclosed their third-quarter earnings report all saw substantial drops in net profit on-quarter and fell short of market ex

The nation’s sole stock bourse operator said Thursday that is has launched an online platform to support merger and acquisition deals of South Korean firms overseas. According to the Korea Exchange, the platform aims to connect local firms with materials and parts firms in ASEAN and other economies. The new system will provide smoother transactions in the M&A deal-making process. It will provide a list of overseas candidates reviewed by global M&A advisors, including New York-based

KB Financial Group said Thursday that the current CEO of its commercial banking unit, Hur Yin, has been tapped as a contender for the lender’s chief executive position for a second term, strongly hinting that the incumbent chief will remain in his role. Hur’s current and first term is set to expire later this year. But he is widely expected to remain KB Kookmin Bank CEO for another year, having drawn praise for his leadership after the financial group separated the roles of group cha

South Korea’s two major carriers Korean Air and Asiana Airlines have received a combined 2.1 billion won ($1.79 million) from selling airline miles to commercial lenders in the past four years, Financial Supervisory Service data showed Wednesday. The data comes amid criticisms of local airlines bagging profits from mileage deals with financial institutions, despite some clients’ complaints of strict conditions and terms surrounding the use of the miles. Calls for transparency in the

As South Korea’s rapidly aging population seeks simple solutions for retirement investments, the nation’s target-date fund market has been growing at a rapid pace in recent years, data compiled by The Korea Herald showed Tuesday. Target-date funds are usually long-term investments and classes of mutual funds that rebalance the ratio of different assets in the investor’s portfolio over time. High-risk assets such as stocks account for the larger portion of the investment when th

South Korea’s leading card issuer Hyundai Card said Tuesday it has teamed up with its global advertising affiliate Innocean Worldwide to launch a special project team that will handle all advertising specifically for the credit card affiliate of the group.The team dubbed Oneteam -- launched officially in May -- consists of 10 Innocean employees to handle advertising planning and production. The team is stationed at Hyundai Card for higher efficiency, the firm explained. By bringing th

Overseas investment banks JP Morgan Chase and Societe General earned a combined commission income of nearly 8 billion won ($6.8 million) from designing derivatives products sold mostly via South Korean commercial lenders that put investors at huge risk, data from the Financial Supervisory Service showed Monday.The data was acquired and released by a ruling Democratic Party lawmaker here after the nation’s financial watchdog said earlier this month that it has found 750 suspected cases of &

When Michelle Kim, former head for the Asia-Pacific region at Tiffany & Co., worked in the iconic jeweler’s international department, the majority of her colleagues were men and so was the entire top management.But instead of hiding away in the minority, Kim said she started “demanding” -- both from the organization and from herself.“I demanded more work and did more work. Not in a very aggressive way … but that’s how I got the bigger title, even though i

Woori Financial Group said Friday it has signed a memorandum of understanding with Germany-based business-software giant SAP to boost the digital transformation of its corporate financial services. The deal was signed by Woori Financial Group Chairman Sohn Tae-seung and SAP CEO Jennifer Morgan at the SAP Executive Briefing Center in New York on Thursday, local time. The value of the deal was not released.  Though the newly formed partnership, both sides will cooperate in establishing an int

As US President Donald Trump mulls a list of countries to impose auto tariffs on, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Washington will take South Korea’s stance on the matter into account, Korea’s Ministry of Economy and Finance said Friday. According to the ministry, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki requested the US Treasury support the exemption of South Korea from auto import tariffs on cars that the Trump administration deems a threat to national securi

South Korea’s internet-only lender Kakao Bank has decided to raise 500 billion won ($422.4 million) in capital by issuing new shares, the firm said Wednesday. The decision was approved by its board, as the firm seeks to improve its fiscal soundness.  According to Kakao Bank, it will issue 100 million new common stocks priced at 5,000 won per share. The record date for the shares is scheduled Nov. 5 and the stocks will be listed on Nov. 22. Once the capital increase process is complete

SK Global Chemical said Wednesday it is participating in a plastic and rubber trade fair in Germany to promote its packaging and automotive materials globally.According to the chemical affiliate of energy giant SK Innovation, it is taking part in this year’s K Show in Germany’s western city of Dusseldorf from Wednesday to Oct. 23.  The firm’s two key businesses are being promoted via separate booths with different themes: one-stop packaging solutions and eco-friendly, ultr

South Korean steelmaker Posco announced Tuesday it has bagged the innovation prize at the 10th Steelie Awards for its eco-friendly advanced resolution printing technology. This year’s Steelie Awards, hosted by the World Steel Association (worldsteel) was held Tuesday in Mexico’s northeastern city of Monterrey. Posco Group Chairman Choi Jeong-woo attended the awards ceremony.  Posco’s advanced resolution printing technology dubbed Posart, allows the firm to print high-defin

South Korea’s internet-only lender Kakao Bank will discuss an upcoming capital increase at its board meeting, the firm’s spokesperson said Tuesday, as it seeks to improve its fiscal soundness, while resolving issues surrounding its shareholder structure. “We will discuss an upcoming capital increase at the board meeting scheduled Wednesday,” Kakao Bank spokesperson Hwang Eun-jae told The Korea Herald. “We believe the issue of raising capital is important now conside

Despite YG Entertainment’s scheduled return of a 67 billion won ($56.6 million) investment to LVMH this week, the French luxury giant is still projected to lose around 8 billion won due to the decline in the K-pop agency’s stock value, local reports said Monday. According to reports citing financial industry sources, LVMH also purchased 503,588 common shares of YG worth 20.3 billion won when it bought 1,359,688 redeemable convertible preferred shares in the entertainment agency via i

Dunamu, an operator of global cryptocurrency exchange Upbit, announced Monday that it plans to launch a comprehensive over-the-counter trading platform that deals with all types of unlisted stocks. According to the Upbit operator, it will jointly launch the platform, which will be available in the form of an app, with local brokerage Samsung Securities and big data analytics company Deep Search by the end of the month.  The goal of this collaborative effort is to address the problem of &ldq

Of the combined savings deposits held by major banks in South Korea, nearly half belonged to the nation’s top 1 percent of income earners, a report from the Financial Supervisory Service showed Sunday. According to the report released via a minor opposition Bareunmirae Party lawmaker, 18 commercial banks operating in Korea held a combined 283.3 trillion won ($238.9 billion) on behalf of its clients in the top 1 percent income bracket, which accounted for 45.5 percent of the total deposits,

Mapping out a plan that incorporates social responsibility will allow firms to manage risks sustainably, compared with a purely legal approach, a legal expert said Friday. “It is popular among law firms today to launch a risk management team,” Lim Sung-taek, managing partner of Jipyong LLC, said during The Korea Herald’s Biz Forum “Korea in crisis: How to survive in an era of trade wars and industrial risks” at the Hotel Shilla in Seoul. “Risk management is re

Financial authorities on Thursday began to accept applications for a second round of bids for a preliminary license to operate the nation’s third internet-only bank, according to the Financial Services Commission.Unlike the first round earlier in the year, however, concerns are mounting that market expectations may have soured, as only one consortium confirmed its bid on the first day.“The business license for a new internet-only bank is the FSC’s top priority task for the seco

Hyundai Motor’s open-innovation business has inked a partnership with US-based fleet management software company Netradyne to create digital maps necessary for autonomous driving technologies, Hyundai Motor America said Thursday. Hyundai Cradle, the automaker’s wholly owned venture capital arm, said its partnership and investment in Netradyne would help the firm build a high-definition map for level-three advanced driver assistance systems, according to Hyundai Motor America. Under t