South Korea can become one of the world’s most successful hubs for the Chinese yuan, given its geographical proximity to China and the importance of their economic relations, said Martin Tricaud, president and CEO of HSBC in Korea.“The 19th century was the century of the sterling, the 20th century was the century of the dollar, the 21 century will be the century of the RMB,” Tricaud told the press, referring to renminbi, another name for the yuan.The London-based financial group’s aggressive pus

KB Financial Group chairman Lim Young-rok has become known for two things: being the first financial group chairman to be slapped with a severe penalty and the first to defy the authorities’ sanction. Late Tuesday night, Lim filed an administrative suit against the Financial Services Commission to have the watchdog withdraw its three-month suspension order.“Through the legal procedure, I look forward to revealing the distorted truth (surrounding the banking unit’s computing system change) and th

Prosecutors on Tuesday raided KB Kookmin Bank’s computer center in Seoul over alleged irregularities in the bank’s introduction of a new computing system, according to KB officials Tuesday.Investigators seized documents and emails sent between IT department employees and KB Financial Group CIO Kim Jae-yeol, prosecutors said.“The seized emails will help us check conversations concerning the process of switching the bank’s mainframe system,” an investigator said.The raid came after the Financial S

KB Financial Group’s board on Monday urged its chairman Lim Young-rok to voluntarily resign following the financial regulator’s decision to suspend the KB chief last week.During a two-hour board meeting, a majority of KB Financial’s directors agreed that Lim’s resignation would be inevitable for the group’s stability, a KB spokesman said in an emailed statement. If Lim does not quit voluntarily, the chairman would likely be dismissed during the board’s meeting Wednesday, KB officials said.KB cha

South Korea’s financial watchdog is stepping up punitive actions against KB Financial Group chairman Lim Young-rok, who has refused to resign over alleged managerial failures.The Financial Services Commission said Saturday it would file a complaint with the prosecution against Lim on Monday for alleged irregular practices in the process of changing the group’s computing system supplier from IBM to Unix.The decision comes only days after the FSC ordered a six-month suspension and resignation for

Macquarie, an Australia-based global financial service group, puts a priority on building public trust for sustainable growth in Korea, the top management of the group’s Korean arm said. “It’s obvious and we know that our reputation is everything to us. Without a reputation we have nothing,” Macquarie Group of Companies Korea chairman John Walker said in an interview with The Korea Herald last Friday. Since its entry into the Korean market in 2000 as a foreign investor in infrastructure projects

NH Financial Group, the country’s fourth-largest banking group by assets, on Friday signed a memorandum of understanding with DGB Financial Group to sell its 98.90 percent stake in its insurance unit Woori Aviva Life Insurance, company officials said.DGB Financial, led by local Daegu Bank, will study the books of Woori Aviva for six weeks starting as early as mid-September, and finalize the deal by January next year, according to NH officials.“It was a win-win strategy for all three firms. While

Cheil Industries’ family-themed promotional video for Everland attracted 800,000 viewers within one day of being posted online Tuesday. (YouTube)Cheil Industries’ viral video to advertise its theme park Everland hit 800,000 views on YouTube a day after its release.The 90-second-long clip featuring a father and a teenage daughter was posted on the firm’s Facebook page and YouTube on Tuesday, raking in more than 300,000 viewers in less than 12 hours.The viral video starts off showing the father sa

The National Tax Service is investigating A-list Korean stars Jun Ji-hyun and Jang Keun-suk, according to industry sources. Actress Jun Ji-hyun, who owns real estate properties worth 13.1 billion won ($12.8 million), was confirmed to be under investigation, but Jun’s agency explained it is part of a regular tax inspection process. Hallyu actor Jang Keun-suk’s agency also confirmed that the star was being questioned for allegedly underreporting his income in China, worth an estimated 2 billion wo

The National Tax Service has launched a thorough investigation into several Korean celebrities for possible tax evasion, a local paper said Wednesday.The NTS’ Gangnam office is looking over at least seven wealthy celebrities’ income reports for tax loophole exploitation, the report said. Speculations rose that the large-scale probe was targeting stars who own properties in Seoul’s posh Gangnam district. (JTBC Twitter)“Tax investigation into celebrities is nothing new. It’s part of a bigger probe

South Korea’s state-owned enterprises are increasingly relying on nonregular workers hired through subcontractors, according to Alio, a state-run statistics website on public companies.Some 360 state-run agencies hired a total of 62,962 outsourced nonregular workers last year, up about 18.2 percent from 53,280 people in 2009.The rising trend is damaging to the Park Geun-hye administration’s pledge to reinforce job security and raise the country’s employment rate to 70 percent by the end of her t

KT&G’s Davidoff Classic and BlueKT&G, the country’s largest tobacco manufacturer, has launched new packaging for Davidoff’s popular Classic and Blue cigarettes, KT&G officials said Monday.The new debossed, leather-like cover is the British multinational company Imperial Tobacco Group’s renewed design of the two brands, which are sold in 160 countries, the officials said. The manufacturer also changed the cover of Blue, formerly known as Rich Blue, to light blue to appeal as a luxurious cigarette

Korea Exchange Bank has set its eyes on overseas markets, particularly Europe and the Middle East, in an effort to sharpen its competency and future growth. KEB president and CEO Kim Han-jo held an executive meeting Sunday to discuss raising the bank’s overall profit from overseas to 40 percent by 2025. The bank’s profit from foreign operations is currently around 18 percent, of which 15 percent is gained from nine offices in Europe and the Middle East, bank officials said. “We believe European

KB Kookmin Card CEO Kim Duk-soo is reaching out to employees in a bid to more closely communicate with employees.Refraining from the command-and-control approach to management, Kim has been touring the firm’s branches and taking part in various events with his colleagues to help strengthen the partnership. “The ideas and opinions that employees express during their conversations with the CEO are often reflected in our business projects,” a Kookmin Card official said. He added that executives who

The new package of Philip Morris’ Virginia S. Superslim variants. (Philip Morris)Philip Morris Korea, an affiliate of the global tobacco firm Philip Morris International, has launched new packaging for its popular Virginia S. Superslim cigarettes, company officials said Wednesday.The new packaging is simpler and more modern, centering on the tobacco leaf icon that has been the design base for the Virginia Superslim series. The new cigarette packaging also has curved edges for a better grip ― the

Caffe Bene on Sunday opened its first Vietnam outlet on Dong Khoi Street in Ho Chi Minh City, company officials said Monday. The Korean coffee chain has plans to launch up to 300 outlets in Vietnam by 2018, starting with the first in Ho Chi Minh. By the end of this year, it plans to open at least three outlets in the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi. “We look forward to spreading South Korea’s coffee culture in Vietnam through thorough market research and analyzing customers’ taste,” Caffe Bene said

Lim Young-rokThe nation’s financial watchdog on Friday imposed light punishments on the chairman of KB Financial Group and the head of its flagship Kookmin Bank over managerial errors. The Financial Supervisory Service’s disciplinary committee gave warnings to KB financial chairman Lim Young-rok and Kookmin Bank president Lee Kun-ho, backing off from its initial stance that it could impose heavy penalties. Lee Kun-ho In June, the authority launched an investigation into misconduct committed by L

Shinhan Bank, South Korea’s third-largest bank by assets, is taking the lead in backing small and medium-sized enterprises and low-income groups.Shinhan extended loans worth 58.4 trillion won ($57 billion) to SMEs as of July, up 3.2 trillion won from last year’s 55.1 trillion won, according to the Financial Supervisory Service. The increase was the largest among local banks, and almost double that of No. 2 lender Woori Bank’s 1.6 trillion won. “Our goal for this year is to allot 90 percent of ou

South Korea’s service industry has witnessed rapid growth in many aspects, including scale of economy and employment, over the past five years, outperforming the manufacturing sector.The number of employees working for 330 listed companies in the country’s seven major service industries like tourism, education, medical service, finance, and software, surpassed 274,760 last year, up 46.5 percent from 197,500 in 2009, according to corporate researcher chaebul.com.The income of service industry wor

High-ranking officials of Korea Exchange Bank have pledged to support the company’s push for early integration with Hana Bank, ahead of the scheduled date of 2017, KEB officials said Sunday.Management at the firm’s headquarters in Seoul posted a joint statement on the company intranet on Aug. 5, claiming that the early merger with Hana Bank was inevitable for the firm’s growth.Managers of KEB branches nationwide have also vowed to stand by the merger and asked the labor union to actively engage