The Korea Herald is publishing a series of articles to look into the weakening of the global economic framework in light of fading liberalism and the rise of trade protectionism and nationalism. This is the fourth installment. -- Ed.After last year’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, the headlines announced a first in the forum’s 25-year history: Its 21 members had failed to reach a consensus on a joint communique, one repercussion from the ongoing US-China trade war. In rece

Hyundai Card, the credit card unit of Hyundai Motor Group, is seeking underwriters and advisers for a proposed initial public offering, its spokesperson said Tuesday. “We have approached domestic and foreign financial institutions as part of the listing process,” the firm’s spokesperson Ha Young-jin told The Korea Herald.  “But right now it’s difficult to say whether we will proceed with the plan. An IPO would be an opportunity to expand our capital and bolster

South Korea’s financial watchdog said Monday it will start a comprehensive audit of Shinhan Financial Group and its commercial banking unit this month. According to a Shinhan Bank spokesperson, the Financial Supervisory Service sent a request last month for documents, ahead of a change in management next year.  “We have received a request for a comprehensive inspection from the FSS slated around the end of the month,” the spokesperson told The Korea Herald, without elabora

Retail investors’ short selling transactions in the third quarter accounted for merely 1 percent of the total transaction volume, according to Korea Exchange data Monday.Short selling is a high-risk trading strategy when investors borrow shares to sell them on the market, in order to buy them back later at a lower price. The investors hope to profit by returning them to the lender at a later date. According to the nation’s main bourse operator, short selling by retail investors

South Korea’s state pension fund, which holds stakes in more than 250 local listed firms, announced changes to its investment portfolio on Friday that are having a considerable impact on the local markets.Among the major conglomerate subsidiaries in which it has invested, the National Pension Service increased its stake in the nation’s No. 1 auto manufacturer, Hyundai Motor, by 1 percent to 10.05 percent by acquiring additional shares Sept. 9. The NPS’ stake in Hyundai Motor st

South Korea’s foreign currency reserve assets increased by nearly $2 billion on-month in September, bolstered by high returns from foreign asset investments, data showed Friday. According to the Bank of Korea, foreign exchange reserves increased $1.8 billion on-month to $403.3 billion last month. The figure had declined in August due to the strong dollar, but rebounded slightly last month as the central bank’s investment in foreign government bonds, mortgage-backed securities and oth

Even as the African swine fever outbreak is spreading in South Korea, many investors are offloading their stocks to make profits from businesses related to meat processing and quarantine services, data showed Thursday.Though such profit-taking sales are legal, the stock price plunge and consequent impact on smaller individual investors has invoked criticism.According to the electronic disclosure system operated by the Financial Supervisory Service, poultry processor and distributor Maniker&rsquo

Sales of derivatives-linked securities in South Korea last month dropped nearly 32 percent on-month as snowballing controversy surrounding commercial banks’ sales of risky derivative products dampened investor sentiment, data showed Thursday.According to the Korea Securities Depository, the combined value of derivatives-linked securities, including derivatives-linked bonds, sold throughout September dropped to 1.4 trillion won ($1.2 billion), down 32.2 percent on-month.The value of the pro

Among South Korean banks, KEB Hana Bank received the most sanctions or penalty fines by overseas financial regulators in the last five years, data compiled and released by a lawmaker showed Monday. According to the data released by a Bareunmirae Party lawmaker, foreign governments imposed sanctions or penalties on overseas branches or subsidiaries of local lenders from January 2015 to June this year on 59 occasions. Of the banks, KEB Hana -- one of the big four commercial banks here -- was invol

South Korea’s wealthy are picking real estate as their best long-term investment option amid the widespread bearish sentiments, a report released by a major financial group showed Sunday. The report, based on a survey conducted by a think tank under KB Financial Group, involved 400 South Korean high net worth individuals or investors with assets of more than 1 billion won ($833,000). Of the total respondents, only 10 percent said they seek to expand the scope and size of their asset portfo

Hyundai Motor Group said Thursday that its open innovation platform is to host a three-day festival called “Zero One Day,” where artists, developers and startups can share their ideas and communicate in a creative environment. The event is named after and hosted by Zero One, an open innovation platform launched by Hyundai in March 2018. It will offer opportunities for participants to present their projects and business models to the public. About 70 projects will be presented this ye

The state-run Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency hosted a consumer goods fair in New Delhi on Thursday, eyeing the fast-evolving consumer goods sector of the world’s sixth-largest economy. The fair, which is part of a weeklong Korea-India business forum, involved 45 South Korean consumer goods firms and Indian buyers. They held a total of 500 rounds of meetings, according to KOTRA.  India’s consumer goods sector was valued at $53 billion in 2017, according to data provided

South Korean pension funds net purchased nearly 2.5 trillion won ($2.2 billion) worth of stocks in companies listed on the benchmark Kospi this month as of Tuesday, Korea Exchange data showed Wednesday.Analysts say the move was fueled mainly by the state-run National Pension Service’s efforts to balance out its investment in domestic stocks in its asset portfolio amid a bear market. According to the KRX, institutional investors net purchased nearly 2.6 trillion won worth of Kospi shares fr

South Korea’s producer prices dropped in August on-year, according to data released by the central bank Tuesday, marking the second consecutive month of decline and feeding concerns that it may lead to a prolonged state of weak consumer prices. According to the Bank of Korea, the producer price index dipped 0.6 percent to 103.73 on-year in August. The reading follows July’s corresponding figure of 103.5, which fell 0.3 percent on-year and marked the first on-year drop in 33 months.&n

South Korea’s exports have plunged the most among G-20 nations due to the ongoing US-China trade conflict, data compiled by the World Trade Organization showed Monday.The country’s second-quarter exports dropped 8.6 percent on-year to $138.6 billion, marking the second-largest decline among G-20 members. Indonesia outranked Korea in terms of decline in exports with a 9.1 percent drop.  By nation, outbound shipments of those heavily reliant on either the US and China saw the stee

With US President Donald Trump casting doubt on the way the World Trade Organization categorizes global economies, South Korea’s finance minister said Friday that the government would take a cautious approach toward its developing-country status and the trade benefits that come along with it. “The other developing economies that are members of the WTO have been raising issues with the benefits that our nation receives through the developing country status, which is why now is the tim

Nearly 20 South Korean firms have posted stable operating profits consecutively on a quarterly basis since 2000, data compiled by a local corporate tracker showed Wednesday, reflecting their ability to manage financial health effectively for nearly two decades. According to the data released by CEO Score, 19 firms here have successfully kept their operating profit margin in positive terrain for 78 consecutive quarters, as of the second quarter this year. The data took 277 nonfinancial listed fir

Shares of South Korean oil-related businesses posted mixed performances Tuesday, in the wake of Saudi Arabia’s decision to shut down nearly half of its oil production after a series of drone strikes on key installations. Shares of petroleum product distributor Joongang Enervis closed nearly 21 percent higher from the previous session, at 10,250 won ($8.61).  Hunggu Oil, which is engaged in the wholesale and retail sale of petroleum products, extended gains for the second day, and clos

Robo-advisers, or digital algorithm-based wealth management services provided by investment firms, outpaced major indexes here last month, reflecting their ability to build a strong portfolio amid a bear market, data provided by a state-backed IT firm showed Tuesday.According to the data compiled by Koscom, return rates for risk-seeking, risk-neutral and risk-averse investments made via robo advisors in August came in at 0.1 percent, minus 0.51 percent and minus 1.18 percent, respectively. The d

Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance said Monday it was granted a six-month exclusive license to offer long-term disability insurance in South Korea, making the firm the first to provide such a policy with a coverage period of more than three years. Long-term disability insurance allows workers to receive a portion of their salary if they are unable to work for a period deemed to be long by the insurance company, compared to short-term disability policies that usually require a waiting or elimina