Banks in South Korea will see eased regulation when opening physical offshore units, as a revision bill gained approval from the Cabinet on Monday.  Following the revision of the Enforcement Decree of the Banking Act, banks will be exempt from the obligation to report to authorities about the establishment of foreign offices or branches prior to the setup, unless the investment into the foreign unit exceeds 1 percent of its capital. Before the revision, banks were required to submit a repor

Companies listed on South Korea’s top-tier stock market Kospi saw their debt-to-capital ratio come to 111.4 percent in 2017, up 0.9 percentage point on-year, data showed Monday. The combined amount of liabilities of Kospi-listed firms reached 1,182.8 trillion won ($1.1 trillion), up 2.5 percent compared to a year prior, whereas the volume of capital came to 1,061.9 trillion won, up 1.7 percent, according to data compiled by the Korea Exchange.The market operator analyzed data on 598 firms

The Daejeon Metropolitan City Government offered to partner with US computer software company Adobe Systems, seeking to bolster the digital literacy of its citizens, officials said Sunday.Han Sun-hee, director-general of the city government’s science and economy bureau, suggested Adobe establish a digital literacy education center in Daejeon, in a meeting on May 14 with Adobe Systems Chief Executive Shantanu Narayen at the US company‘s headquarters in San Jose, California.　 Han Sun-hee (third fr

PureChain, a ledger-free blockchain running on an inter-device communication system, seeks to tokenize its first business that it expects to shape the “gift economy,” its developers said Thursday.Called “Colorchain,” the new decentralized platform by Singapore-headquartered Pax Datatech will have its tokens distributed using PureChain’s technology that does not require a third-party consensus or a process for user authentication.PureChain is a decentralized system p

The nonprofit Korea Listed Companies Association, which represents some 2,000 listed companies, urged the government Wednesday to come up with a policy to allow companies to defend against hostile moves from foreign activist shareholders.Such attempts have undermined Korean firms’ efforts to embark on long-term growth and instead lead to them sticking to short-term gains, said Jung Koo-ryong, chairman of the advocacy group, in a press conference held at the Korea Exchange headquarters on Wednesd

Large and mid-cap South Korean stocks set to be added to global and regional equity indexes by MSCI moderately rallied Tuesday, after an announcement by the US index publisher to rebalance its indexes. 　MSCI, formerly Morgan Stanley Capital International, is an American provider support tool widely used as investment guidance.　In the May 2018 Semi-Annual Index Review for the MSCI Equity Indexes released Monday, MSCI unveiled five Korean won-denominated shares to be added starting June 1. New to

Kakao Games, South Korea‘s online and mobile game software developer and publisher, has applied for a preliminary screening for an initial public offering on the second-tier Kosdaq, according to the Korea Exchange Monday. If the game arm of internet giant Kakao passes the screening process by the market operator KRX, it is projected to go public in the second half of 2018. Korea Investment & Securities is the sole underwriter for the IPO. The company’s value is estimated at 1.5 trillion won ($1.

This is the 55th in a series of articles analyzing major companies traded on the tech-heavy Kosdaq market. -- Ed. While leading sectors of South Korea’s second-tier stock market Kosdaq have suffered downward pressure over the past few weeks, some powerhouses have pulled through.One of the firms is Koh Young Technology, which has striven to make a linear growth since it was listed a decade ago. On the back of it was its earnings increase with its unrivaled tech prowess suitable for manufact

Growing allegations that biopharma firm Samsung BioLogics fabricated financial statements, coupled with checks by authorities and activist shareholders, are bringing questions on a controversial deal between two Samsung affiliates back to the fore, according to market experts Friday.The Financial Services Commission plans to review the case of Samsung BioLogics next week via an oversight panel. The financial regulator is reportedly seeking clues on whether the change in accounting method was ass

German carmaker BMW said Thursday that it had opened a large-scale cultural complex on a 13,200-square-meter site in Songdo International City in Incheon, South Korea.　The cultural complex was built through a joint investment by BMW and Bavarian Motors, Bavarian Motors, a Korean dealer of BMW and its Mini Brand. The construction project took 1 1/2 years. It is the largest integrated facility opened by a BMW dealer worldwide. From left: Lee In-seok, chief executive officer of Bavarian Motors , Hi

South Korean builder SK Engineering and Construction’s top official has expressed intent to lead a canal project in Turkey, citing its track record in multiple projects in the nation. Dubbed Canal Istanbul, the project involves building a 45-kilometer-long waterway that connects the Black Sea with the Marmara Sea. It is reportedly estimated to cost some $15 billion. “(Canal Istanbul) is a major project both in terms of value and importance,” Lee Seung-soo, vice president of SK E&C, was quoted as

The state-run Korea Post chief Kang Seong-ju said artificial intelligence and big data are key to addressing a global decline in mail volume, in a panel discussion at Universal Postal Union World CEO Forum held Wednesday, according to Korea Post.As a panelist in a session of the forum, Kang introduced Korea Post’s efforts to adopt AI and drones to “develop a future delivery system” that helps mail to be delivered to remote areas that are difficult to reach. Korea Post President Kang Seong-ju (th

The Korea Herald is publishing a series of interviews on promising startups in the financial technology industry. This is the 14th installment. - Ed.The advent of financial technology has minimized a South Korean smartphone user’s effort to manually collect personal information registered across the Web when submitting filings needed to buy a financial product online.Upon agreement by a user who logged on to a financial company‘s website, his or her set of private information from pu

South Korea’s financial watchdog said Tuesday it will take legal actions against Samsung Securities for failing to operate with due internal standards for safe electronic financial transactions, which had resulted in a dividend fiasco last month involving the trade of unauthorized shares worth tens of billions of won. Such flaws are respectively violations of the Act on Corporate Governance of Financial Companies and the Electronic Financial Transactions Act, according to the Financial Sup

South Korea‘s state-owned electric utility has conjured up a plan to build a power plant in North Korea that generates electricity for industrial facility operation there, according to reports Tuesday.The preliminary plans came amid the blossoming relationship between the two Koreas following an inter-Korean summit on April 27, although the feasibility remains farfetched due to outstanding economic sanctions.  (Yonhap)According to the plan by the Korea East-West Power, a subsidiary of the state-

South Korea’s financial regulator is likely to decide the fate of Samsung BioLogics on May 23 at the earliest over allegations that the company had doctored its accounting books. The nation’s top financial regulator, the Financial Services Commission, said it would review the case by holding an in-house oversight panel next Thursday. If a breach of accounting regulations is found, the Securities and Futures Commission, a legal entity within the FSC, will decide the level of penalty i

The Mongolian Stock Exchange chief hailed South Korean financial companies’ engagement with its fledging stock market as a “positive catalyst” in its search for increased attention from foreign investors. Speaking in an interview with The Korea Herald, Altai Khangai, chief executive officer of the MSE, cited the initial public offering of LendMN, Mongolia’s first financial technology company that began trading in March, as well as another upcoming IPO involving Korean inv

The local currency strengthened against the greenback for two consecutive trading days until Monday on heightening expectations of a thaw in inter-Korean relations after a summit between North and South Korea. As of the trading session’s close Monday, the US dollar was trading at 1,068 won, according to the Seoul Money Brokerage. The market closed Tuesday due to the Labor Day holiday. The won-dollar exchange rate dropped 12.9 won from Thursday’s close and 8.6 won from Friday’s

Overly-hyped sentiments have begun to give way to skepticism toward a flurry of promises made by founders of distributed ledger systems like blockchain and the digital currencies encrypted and traded on them.Fanning such cynicism was the global race to place cryptocurrency transactions into regulatory frameworks to deter speculation and prevent crimes like money laundering. Such moves have resulted in noticeable declines in prices of cryptocurrencies.The volatility in the cryptocurrency market o

Mirae Asset Global Investments, South Korea’s asset management firm, had its target date fund product rank No. 1 in terms of yearly return on the Korean market. A TDF refers to a collective investment scheme in the form of a mutual fund or collective trust fund, whose asset allocation mix of the portfolio becomes conservative -- largely from equities to bonds -- in the coming of an individual investor‘s target date, typically for retirement. The scheme was introduced in the early 199