The role of deposit insurers has become increasingly important as the global financial markets face a shorter cyclical crisis amid low regulatory barriers on cross-border trading and transactions.Financial authorities are urging for more global coordination and collaboration among deposit insurers as their role has become bigger than the traditional task of protecting depositors from possible bank collapses or theft and preventing bank runs whenever a crisis erupts.They are further expected to m

Fair Trade Commission chairman Noh Dae-lae said Monday that the country’s antitrust agency remained steadfast in its determination to amend some of its rules and regulations governing family-run conglomerates for fairer market practices.It seeks to pass the so-called economic democratization bill at the National Assembly by the end of June to put an end to chaebol owners misusing their companies’ business plans for their own interest, the FTC chief told reporters.The measures taming chaebol incl

The world economy is racing toward a global currency war following a flurry of benchmark rate cuts or hinted cuts by developed and developing countries to counter a prolonged economic sluggishness.Caught between a weaker yen ― which has breached 100 yen to the U.S. dollar for the first time since 2009 ― and government pressure, the Bank of Korea’s key base rate cut to 2.50 percent for May joined a list of other central bankers trying to avert further downturns through weaker currencies.Europe an

The central bank’s latest rate cut, which was contrary to the market forecasts, appeared to be attracting backlash from not only the industry for yielding to government pressure, but also within the organization. A senior manager at the Bank of Korea blatantly criticized the central bank for lowering its key base rate, saying that it was an illogical decision that only damaged its credibility as an independent entity.The manager wrote that its rate cut on Thursday went against what BOK Gov. Kim

Korea’s economy is expected to get back on track and improve, thanks to a surprising ― and controversial ― rate cut this week by the Bank of Korea, and the passage of the supplementary budget bill at the National Assembly.Lee Suk-joon, vice finance minister for budget affairs, said Friday during an event that “Korea’s overall confidence in the economy will grow” on the back of the central bank’s rate cut and the government’s fiscal stimulus plan. Korea will be able to achieve its initial growth

The Korean won has gained the most to the U.S. dollar among 30 currencies of developed and developing economies in a month, putting financial authorities on alert against further appreciation of the won, industry sources said.The won strengthened nearly 5 percent as of Wednesday with the exchange rate falling below 1,100 won on increased volatility stemming from a weak yen driven by Japan’s aggressive monetary easing. Few restrictions governing foreign exchange transactions in the country are fu

By Park Hyong-kiFinancial regulators plan to toughen oversight of conglomerates that have excessively borrowed from their creditor banks to avert another possible STX or Woongjin-style credit crunch in the industry.The Financial Supervisory Service, the regulatory enforcement agency of the Financial Services Commission, also plans to strengthen its supervision of banks that allowed conglomerates to overleverage their positions without proper evaluation of their balance sheets.This comes after ST

State-run financial companies under the management jurisdiction of the Financial Services Commission are reemerging as firms that offer the best-paying jobs of any industry.Employees at nine public financial companies of the regulatory body received an annual monthly salary of some 87 million won ($79,500) on average last year, more than the average 70 million won at Samsung Electronics, Korea’s biggest company listed on the stock market, according to a public disclosure filing.The nine are Kore

Hyundai Motor and its sister automaker Kia Motors have revved up their presence in the U.S. market since early this year, recovering from last year’s lackluster sales dwarfed by Japanese carmakers.Hyundai and Kia sold a total of 110,871 units, gaining a combined market share of 8.6 percent as of last month, up from 7.3 percent in December.Although their combine market share is still short of the 9-plus percent achieved in April last year, the Korean auto giants are gradually recovering due to in

The market is eyeing whether the Bank of Korea will cut its key interest rate when it holds its monetary policy committee meeting Thursday, following Europe’s widely expected rate slash from 0.75 percent to a record low of 0.5 percent last week as the eurozone seeks to revive its economy through monetary easing.Despite the government’s growing calls for a lower rate to further spur the economy, Korea’s central bank has kept its key base rate unchanged over the last six months, citing recovery to

Ever since President Park Geun-hye introduced her vision and policy for a “creative economy” after taking office in February, the public and politicians alike have paid particular attention to the slogan.She laid out a number of pointers for the development of a creative economy such as convergence of IT and science, and sustainability of small and medium enterprises, in line with goals of achieving an employment rate of 70 percent.“The main axis that will form the creative economy is science an

Financial regulators warned insurance companies to not purposefully over-charge customers on insurance fees.The Financial Supervisory Service said Thursday that it will hold chief executives accountable for such practices and impose tougher disciplinary measures against them and their companies, such as business suspension or higher fines.The financial regulatory enforcement agency also plans to deeply scrutinize whether insurers are fairly pricing their products for their policyholders in the s

The Korea Consumer Agency said Thursday that not all premium air purifiers were functional, high-quality products.The consumer watchdog evaluated the performance, efficiency, noise and maintenance requirements of 22 air purifier models made by six companies. The air purifier makers were LG Electronics, Samsung Electronics, Coway, Chungho Nais, Kyowon L&C and Whirlpool.It said that Chungho Nais’ CHA-310BA had many functional options, but fell short in terms of efficiency, and that its maintenance

The government unveiled Wednesday a set of deregulatory measures aimed at boosting corporate and foreign investment to offset weak facility investment and construction activities as part of its efforts to overcome low domestic growth and boost business confidence.The Ministry of Finance said Wednesday that it would move to cut red tape and make its regulatory systems efficient so that domestic and foreign-invested companies can speed up their investment projects in the country. Such deregulatory

Financial authorities are in the process of evaluating and reviewing credit standings of domestic companies in financial turmoil in the industrial sectors, such as shipping, shipbuilding and construction, that have been in a prolonged slump.The Financial Services Commission and its financial regulatory enforcement arm, the Financial Supervisory Service, are said to be engaged in due diligence of companies that borrowed more than 50 billion won ($45.4 million).There are reportedly around 1,000 pa

Bank of Korea Gov. Kim Choong-soo said Tuesday that the effects of monetary easing by developed countries to revitalize their economies were winding down.In a meeting with a group of corporate executives, Kim said that monetary easing of key international currencies such as the U.S. dollar, the euro and the yen boosted market liquidity.However, he questioned whether the money had appropriately flowed into small and medium enterprises, the backbone of the real economy, reiterating the central ban

Salaries and bonuses for executives at state-run enterprises contined to rise last year despite losses and snowballing debt.The debt of 295 state-run institutions and enterprises reached 493.4 trillion won ($447.8 billion) in 2012, up 7.5 percent from a year before, according to a public filing by the Ministry of Strategy and Finance on Tuesday.Their debt ratio surpassed 200 percent on equity capital of 237.8 trillion won.Yet with assets of 731.2 trillion won, this marks the first time in four y

The National Pension Service, the country’s pension fund operator, is gearing up to boost its overseas portfolio by increasing its investments in the global capital markets and alternative assets.Its move to further expand its overseas holdings comes as it seeks higher returns through diversification amid an increasing number of pension earners as Korea’s population rapidly ages.Its investments in stocks and bonds not only in advanced markets but also in emerging markets will be able to help the

KB Financial Group reported weak quarterly earnings beset by weak lending amid the economic slowdown.The financial holdings giant posted a net profit of about 413 billion won in the first quarter of this year, down more than 32 percent from 608.4 billion won a year earlier, the company disclosed Friday.It performed below the market consensus of a 30 percent decrease in profit at around 420 billion won.Its sales reached 6.2 trillion won, down about 10 percent from 6.9 trillion won in the same per

The number of couples who divorced after living together for more than 20 years surpassed those with less than four years of marriage for the first time last year, Statistics Korea said Tuesday. The number of divorce cases filed by couples married for over 20 years reached 30,200 in 2012, compared with 28,200 of those married less than four years.This is up from 28,300 in 2011 for divorced couples with 20 years of marriage, but down from 30,700 for those married for less than four years.Couples