After more than 30 years, the requirement for foreigners to register in advance with the Financial Services Commission before investing in listed stocks and bonds in Korea has been abolished. The Financial Services Commission made the announcement Monday, revealing that it has successfully made changes to the Capital Market Act, with the amendment officially approved during a Cabinet meeting. After a proclamation on June 13, the new law will come into effect from Dec. 14. The revision is part of

Shin Ho-cheol, the vice president of Kakao Pay also known as Simon Shin, has been appointed as a board member of the US brokerage firm Siebert Financial. This appointment follows the online payment unit of South Korean tech giant Kakao Corp.'s recent announcement of its intention to acquire a majority stake of up to 51 percent in Siebert with a total investment of approximately $77.38 million. Siebert, listed on the tech-heavy Nasdaq, offers a range of brokerage and financial advisory servi

Shinhan Bank encountered a currency exchange system error around 9:30 a.m. on Thursday. As a result, currency-related services, including overseas remittances, were temporarily suspended for approximately 2 1/2 hours until the system was restored at around noon. "We made sure that for clients who requested overseas remittances during the service outage, we apply the exchange rate at the time of their request to minimize any potential customer losses from exchange rate fluctuations," a

Lee Bok-hyun, chief of the Financial Supervisory Service, on Thursday emphasized the importance of the financial authority participating in international investor relations events in enhancing the global presence of Korean financial firms. “We will continue to support the Korean financial group’s global expansion (over the next year),” Lee said at a press conference held Thursday to mark his first year in office. As the FSS head, Lee made an exceptional move by participatin

The American Chamber of Commerce in Korea hosted the AmCham ESG Seminar 2023 on Wednesday to provided a platform for attendees to discuss the latest trends and best practices related to environmental, social and governance issues. "In light of AmCham's mission to establish Korea as a regional headquarters in the Asia Pacific, we recognize the immense potential of ESG in driving innovation and value creation for Korea," AmCham CEO James Kim said during the seminar held at the Four

KakaoBank, the largest internet-only bank in South Korea, hopes to replicate its domestic success in overseas markets, aiming to become the first Korean internet-only bank to pioneer international expansion. Having built a substantial user base since its launch in 2017, the largest internet-only bank in South Korea has demonstrated the benefits of branchless banking to financial consumers in the country. Led by CEO Yoon Ho-young, who secured his fourth two-year term in March, KakaoBank is spea

South Korea's semiconductor industry, which has been experiencing repeated downturns since August last year, is expected to revive in the latter half of the year, a Korean trade lobby group said on Tuesday. “I anticipate that our semiconductor industry will recover, reaching the level of the second quarter of last year by the fourth quarter. I expect that production cutbacks will be reversed and the overall economy will improve, particularly with the reopening of China playing a signi

Colliers Korea, the Korean branch of the Canadian commercial real estate firm, said Wednesday that it has successfully closed three deals with a total value of $780 million. "By concluding these three transactions this month, my team has shown that there are still plenty of opportunities for the smart investors (in Seoul), despite the high-interest rate environment," Colliers Korea Managing Director Robert Wilkinson said in a statement. According to Colliers Korea, the deals encompass

Hana Financial Group Chairman Ham Young-joo pledged that the financial conglomerate will play proactive role in expanding investments in the biodiversity sector during an event held by the United Nations Environment Programme in Seoul on Wednesday. "We will fulfill our role as a financial institution in promoting environmental and social responsibility by formulating policies and expanding investments in the field of biodiversity conservation, which holds tremendous potential,” Ham sa

Hanwha Group, the new owner of Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering, took the first step toward a fresh start for the shipbuilder by rebranding it to Hanwha Ocean at a shareholders meeting on Tuesday. This is the second rebranding in the world’s fourth-largest shipbuilder’s history spanning 45 years. The previous name change occurred in 1978, when DSME was acquired by the now-defunct Daewoo Group. At the shareholders' meeting at Daewoo Marine Ocean Plaza in Geoje, South

In a recent media event, Kakao Pay CEO Shin Won-keun unveiled the company’s ambitious goal of becoming a Korean version of Robinhood in its recent push for global expansion in partnership with Siebert Financial, the US brokerage firm. “We are considering making a solution that combines Siebert's stock trading solution with Kakao Pay Securities' mobile trading service,” CEO Shin said. “We believe we can become the next Robinhood with it." Robinhood is the re

Naver Pay app installations soared 186 percent to 470,000 in April, a month after it integrated its payment service with Samsung Pay, according to Naver Financial. "We see that the number of app installations for Samsung Pay's interlinked offline payment service has significantly increased,” a Naver Financial official said in a statement Thursday. "The usage of the payment service has expanded to include a wider range of locations, encompassing not only convenience stores

Kakao Pay, the online payment unit of South Korean tech giant Kakao Corp., will step up its stock trading service and expand global footing by launching a solution jointly with US brokerage firm Siebert Financial, the firm's CEO Shin Won-keun said Monday. “We are considering making a solution that combines Siebert's stock trading solution with Kakao Pay Securities' mobile trading service,” Shin said at the press conference held at Conrad Seoul in Yeouido, Seoul. In A

US investment firm Capital Group has increased its stake in Hana Financial Group from the previous 5.08 percent to 5.55 percent, becoming the Korean financial giant’s third-largest shareholder. Following the 5.08 percent stake purchase in February, the US firm announced its additional stake purchase of 0.47 percent last week. With the latest purchase, Capital Group becomes the third-largest shareholder after the National Pension Service with 8.78 percent and BlackRock with 6.19 percent. Ca

Samsung Electronics' recent decision not to renew its existing contract with local card companies for its mobile payment service Samsung Pay has sparked speculations that the company might start charging fees for the service. Under the previously signed contract with a local card issuer, Samsung Electronics was not entitled to receive separate commissions for Samsung Pay. Since the initial launch of the Korean tech giant’s digital wallet service in Korea in August 2015, there have bee

Hana Financial Group Chairman Ham Young-joo on Tuesday said that the group aims to increase its profit from overseas operations to around 40 percent of the total in the medium to long term at the "Invest K-finance: Singapore IR 2023" event in Singapore. To reach this goal, Ham said the group will continue to use its current strategy of making strategic investments in minority stakes in overseas financial institutions. “This approach provides the advantage of minimizing financial

KB Financial Group Chairman Yoon Jong-kyoo said the banking group has been preparing for potential insolvency risks in project financing in the Korean real estate market by increasing its reserve holdings during a global investor relations event held in Singapore on Tuesday. During the "Invest K-Finance: Singapore IR 2023" event, many global investors voiced concern over the rising risks in the real estate project financing market in Korea. The loan exposure of four major Korean fina

Hana Financial Group Chairman Ham Young-joo has made it his mission this year to position the financial group as a leader in addressing the issue of a declining birth rate in the country. "The declining birth rate is a social issue that finance firms should be paying attention to. It is one of the primary areas where financial firms should be taking a leading role," Ham said in a statement. This move came after Korea's fertility rate, or the average number of children a woman bear

KB Financial Group hosted its "Cocktail Reception" on Thursday at the Sheraton Grand Incheon with key players in the global financial industry. The event showcased the Korean company's businesses and growth strategies while exploring potential opportunities for collaboration. The reception also served to commemorate the 56th Annual Meeting of the Asian Development Bank, which took place in Incheon last week. Seventy KB Financial Group executives, including Chairman Yoon Jong-kyoo

All four major financial holding companies in Korea have increased their loan loss reserves during the first quarter of this year. Despite this, KB Financial Group, Woori Financial Group, Hana Financial Group and Shinhan Financial Group have managed to report an improvement in net profit during this period. KB's loan loss reserves in the January-March period were 668.2 billion won, surging dramatically from 145.8 billion won during the same period last year. Despite the increase in loan los