Mirae Asset Global Investments is seeking to further solidify its presence in the overseas financial markets by strengthening its global portfolio. The South Korea-based asset management company has made bold moves in recent years and left footprints both in advanced and developing markets. One example was its decision to acquire Global X, a US-based sponsor of exchange-traded funds, in 2018.  It also set up a joint venture with a Vietnamese state-run investment corporation and became the f

Hit by waves of concern prompted by last week’s deadly crash of a Boeing 737 Max 8 jet and a possible spike in oil prices, South Korean airline stocks took a dive throughout Wednesday’s trading. Asiana Airlines, the nation’s second-largest carrier by sales, closed 0.37 percent lower from the previous day, trading at 4,050 won ($3.58) per share. Budget airlines T’way and Jin Air also slipped 1.35 percent and 0.64 percent to 8,010 won and 23,450 won, respectively.  Tho

Companies have recently restarted discussions on creating an alternative trading system in South Korea, encouraged by the government and financial sector’s moves to encourage more active trading.Neoframe, a local IT firm and home trading system developer, said Monday it had developed an ATS platform that provides the same service as the Korea Exchange, the operator of the nation’s main stock exchange.But the company will need to work with financial partners to run a trading system.Kn

Overseas financial firms are losing their grip on the South Korean securities market, and their lackluster performance is making possible newcomers nervous amid concerns there will a mass withdrawal from the local market. Natixis, a France-based financial services provider, had announced last year its plans to enter the local securities market by the first half of 2019, but it is now reportedly skeptical. Its shift in attitude apparently stems from the almost $300 million loss from its portfolio

South Korea’s second largest tire maker Kumho Tire has decided to delist its shares from the London Stock Exchange for cost efficiency, the firm said in a regulatory filing Friday. Its 76,034 shares are scheduled to be pulled out of the bourse on April 30, after which Seoul will be the only market where it will be listed, according to officials. Struck by the struggling replacement tire market last year, Kumho Tire had reported an operating loss of 89.9 billion won ($79.1 million) in

Prosecutors raided South Korea’s main bourse on Friday, as part of a probe concerning the accounting fraud by Samsung BioLogics.Officials of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office were sent to search the Korea Exchange in western Seoul, officials said. The raid, which reportedly started late Thursday, was part of a probe into Samsung BioLogics, which allegedly violated accounting rules by deliberately overstating the value of affiliate Samsung Bioepis ahead of its initia

Hyundai Card, South Korea’s credit card service provider, has been selected to provide its cloud-based credit card IT system to an affiliate of IBM Japan, the firm said Thursday. Exa Systems, a Japan-based major information technology solutions provider, will now utilize Hyundai Card’s Hyundai-Advanced Library System, which was developed in consideration of Japan’s pursuit of a “cashless society,” according to the Seoul-based firm. The system was also developed ahea

South Korean hypermarket chain operator Homeplus said Thursday it has scrapped its plans to list its REIT on the nation’s main bourse, dissolving all anticipations surrounding what was expected to be the nation’s first real estate investment with an initial public offering worth more than 1 trillion won.“We have decided to cancel our plans to go public, considering that a recent survey pointed to difficult circumstances to properly assess our market value,” the firm said

The Export-Import Bank of Korea held a meeting of its advisory committee on inter-Korean exchanges on Wednesday, the agency said, to discuss the outcome of the recent US-North Korea summit in Hanoi. A panel of eight experts gathered to discuss how the summit last month -- which ended without an agreement -- would affect inter-Korean economic cooperation as well as other matters surrounding the Korean Peninsula. Wednesday’s meeting was the 10th of its kind. Eximbank Chairman Eun Sung-s

Hit by the snowballing sex scandal surrounding an ex-member of boy band Big Bang, shares of major K-pop management agencies in South Korea have been wavering this week. Share prices of the Kosdaq-listed YG Entertainment -- home to former Big Bang member Seungri -- ended 5.2 percent higher from the previous day at 37,750 won ($33.32) Wednesday. They had opened 0.7 percent higher and steadily rose throughout the day.  The figure was a noteworthy rebound from the firm’s performance Tuesd

South Korea’s financial districts Yeouido and Jung-gu have experienced the country’s ups and downs throughout modern history, with few businesses surviving the political and financial upheavals.And only a few are as steeped in the nation’s financial history as Woori Bank, one of South Korea’s four major lenders, established 119 years ago. The bank’s roots are embedded in Daehan Cheon-il Bank, which was established by Emperor Gojong in January 1899 with funds from th

Citibank aims to achieve 25 percent growth in revenue from client work in intra-Asia trade corridors this year by boosting its corporate financing business in the region, the firm said Monday.A key strategy in achieving the goal is to help businesses based in Asian nations to enter other Asian markets, it said. The bank’s key corridors are South Korea to ASEAN, Korea to China, Korea to India, Japan to ASEAN, Japan to China and China to ASEAN.　 To solidify its presence in the Asian mar

The cash dividends of South Korea’s four major financial groups topped 2.5 trillion won ($2.23 billion) in 2018, according to reports Sunday.According to the groups -- KB Financial, Shinhan Financial, Woori Financial and Hana Financial -- they handed out a combined 2.52 trillion won to shareholders in dividends last year. The amount was up 8.8 percent from the previous year, when they paid a record 2.3 trillion won. It was also 157.3 percent higher than 979.9 billion won in 2011 when

Monthly data usage by smartphones surpassed 400,000 terabytes for the first time in January, according to data from the Ministry of Science and ICT, boosted by growing use of video streaming services and mobile games. The data traffic amounted to 403,812 TB in January, up 1.5 percent from the previous month, the data showed. The January figure increased 28.7 percent on-year, and marked a 17-fold increase from usage in January 2012, the data showed. Data traffic on smartphones that support LTE, o

Taking a leaf from YouTube trends, such as eating shows, major South Korean brokerage firms are using the video sharing platform to increase online interaction with investors and inject creativity into market reports. Kiwoom Securities, an online brokerage services provider, has been a front-runner in the trend for years, with 22,193 subscribers to its YouTube channel as of Tuesday. The channel, launched in 2013, has the most subscribers among local brokerage firms. Most of the uploaded content

South Korean securities firms are seeking to solidify their presence in both local and overseas real estate markets this year by clinching licenses as real estate trust operators while expanding territories in the overseas property market. On Sunday, the Financial Services Commission granted preliminary licenses to three securities companies.They join 11 real estate trust operators, which are all brokerage houses. The three are also the first few to obtain licenses in 10 years.The three firms ar

South Korean securities firms saw their local branch network fall below 1,000 in late 2018, with the rise of mobile trading infrastructure here, data showed Monday.According to the Korea Financial Investment Association, the number of brick-and-mortar branches of 55 securities firms with at least one business unit here came to 979 at the end of last year. This is 46 branches less than the previous year.  Along with the shrinking branch network, the number of employees at the firms declined

Analysts recommend stocks related to new industries and technologies for investors mulling to expand their investment portfolios this year, with the latest rally in the Seoul bourses boosted by a foreign buying spree clouding judgments. The main keywords are electric vehicle, 5G, and content streaming services, they say.  Among them, the EV battery market is projected to expand 30 percent annually for a decade, according to Han Byung-hwa, an analyst at Eugene Investment & Securities.Ana

Share prices of North Korea-related businesses on the Seoul bourses took a brutal hit Thursday on news of failed nuclear negotiations between the US and North Korea, while defense shares surged.The South Korean stock market and the won plunged Thursday, with the benchmark Kospi closing 1.8 percent lower from the previous closing, the biggest one-day fall since Oct. 23, and the won slipping 0.5 percent against the US greenback.  Once soaring shares of South Korean firms with business ties to

The South Korean stock market, the Korean won and bond prices lost ground Thursday following the summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, which ended without any agreement contrary to widespread anticipation for a breakthrough.The nation’s main bourse Kospi closed 1.76 percent or 39.35 points lower from the previous trading day at 2,195.44, while the Kosdaq ended 2.8 percent lower at 731.25. The Kospi marked its biggest daily percentage loss since late