KB Financial Group said on Friday it had signed a contract with LIG Insurance to take over a controlling stake in the country’s fourth-largest nonlife insurer.The banking group reportedly paid about 640 billion won ($630 million) to buy a 19.83 percent stake in LIG Insurance.‘‘The company has sought the deal to diversify its banking-centric business portfolios into the nonbanking business,” KB Financial said in a press release. The stake acquisition still needs approval from the financial author

KT&G’s Raison Sun PressoKT&G, the country’s largest tobacco manufacturer, has launched capsule-type Raison Sun Presso, the company announced Monday.Raison Sun Presso is the latest edition to KT&G’s Raison Presso lineup launched in 2012. Company officials said consumers will now be able to choose from four different products in the series. According to the firm, each cigarette contains a capsule in the filter that when popped, releases two flavors.The new package contains an image of waves under

When it comes to marketing in Asia, time is irrelevant, says Roberto Ascoli, division director of the British multinational company Imperial Tobacco Group.“We’re not here for one year or two years. We’re here for 20 years, 30 years, 50 years and so on. The progress has been initially slow, but we’re satisfied with what we have done. But we want to do more,” Ascoli said in an interview with The Korea Herald on June 12.Ascoli’s remarks came during a short visit here to discuss the imminent launch

South Korea’s coffee market is forecast to continue to grow, despite growing concerns over market saturation. The country’s coffee imports marked 52,660 tons from January-May this year, up 13.6 percent from the same period a year ago, according to the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corp. Coffee imports have continued double-digit growth for the past five years, it added. Industry watchers say that there is more room to grow in the coffee market, seeing new pockets of consumption from the fast

Woori Bank has decided to acquire Cambodia’s microfinance institution Malis Finance for 5 billion won ($4.9 million) to accelerate its global expansion. The Financial Services Commission approved Woori Bank’s acquisition of Malis on Wednesday, according to bank officials. The purchase of the Cambodia-based firm marks the bank’s second attempt at making inroads into the Southeast Asian country after its failure in 2008 due to the global financial crisis.“It’s difficult to develop a (stable) busin

The number of stock analysts in South Korea decreased by nearly 20 percent over the last three years as the bearish stock market has worsened earnings of many brokerages, leading them to let their analysts go.Local brokerages had 1,276 analysts as of last month, down 19.2 percent from an all-time high of 1,580 in February 2011, according to the Korea Financial Investment Association.The report showed that the findings provide the starkest evidence yet of the market’s sluggish performance in rece

South Korean stocks inched up 0.14 percent on Monday on hopes of Europe’s stimulus measures, with investors taking a wait-and-see stance against unrest in Iraq, analysts said. The South Korean won fell sharply against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index climbed 2.74 points to 1,993.59. The trading volume was moderate at 227.9 million shares worth 1.19 trillion won ($1.17 billion), with losers outpacing gainers 440 to 368.The KOSPI started a tad lower, following a shar

NongHyup Financial Group on Thursday announced that its new brokerage arm created by a merger between NongHyup Investment & Securities and Woori Investment & Securities would be launched on Dec. 31. It also said that Woori Aviva Life Insurance will merge with NongHyup Life Insurance in the first half of 2015, while Woori FG Savings Bank will be placed under NongHyup Financial as of this month. With the package deal involving the three Woori units, NongHyup Financial Group will be reborn as the c

Financial regulators are expected to soon announce additional penalties for Hana Bank CEO Kim Jong-jun in a move that is expected to apply further pressure on Kim to step down from his post.“We are not yet permitted to discuss the result (of an ongoing probe into Hana Bank) but given the seriousness of the Hana Bank case, the CEO is most likely to be subject to penalties,” an FSS official said Tuesday.In July, the Financial Supervisory Service will hold a disciplinary committee to decide on the

NTS raids LG Hausys, LG Chem in tax probesTax investigators on Tuesday raided LG Hausys in part of what could be a group-wide tax audit on LG.In an unprecedented move, National Tax Service officials entered the headquarters of LG Hausys, LG Group’s subsidiary specializing in construction materials, according to sources. The surprise investigation was known to have been made at the same time as an LG Chem raid around 10:30 a.m., when the NTS officials rushed into the chemical company’s headquarte

국세청이 10일 오전 LG화학에 대한 고강도 세무조사에 착수한대 이어 LG 하우시스도 조사 대상에 포함된 것으로 확인되면서 대대적인 LG 계열사 세무조사 배경에 대한 관심이 증폭되고 있다.10일 오전 국세청 조사국 직원 40여명이 서울 여의도 LG화학 본사에서 약 2시간의 실랑이 끝에 자료를 확보했다. 이날 국세청에서는 추가로 약 100여명의 직원을 LG하우시스 본사에도 투입해 회계장부 등 영치를 진행한 것으로 알려졌다. 이번 세무조사가 LG그룹에 대한 집중 조사가 아닌지 의심되는 가운데 LG의 다른 계열사들도 상황을 예의 주시하고 있다. LG하우시스 관계자는 “통상적으로 회사가 설립된 지 5년째에 세무조사가 이뤄지므로 예상 가능한 일이었다”고 설명했다.일각에서는 이번 조사가 탈세혐의를 기반으로 한 특별 세무조사라는 해석이 나오고 있다.(코리아헤럴드 석지현 기자)<관련 영문 기사>NTS raids LG Hausys, LG Chem in tax probe   Tax investigat

The Korea Exchange Bank said on Monday it would open a subsidiary in Moscow this year as more South Korean companies are seeking to expand business opportunities in Russia. The country’s fifth-largest lender will focus on localizing financial services that include plans for developing retail banking businesses and offering financial services to both Russian and South Korean firms doing business in the area, bank officials said. The new subsidiary is being launched six years after KEB opened a Mo

The number of dormant credit cards in South Korea dropped for the third straight year in March, according to Financial Supervisory Service data released Sunday. About 10.56 million credit cards were idle for more than a year, down more than half from 23.72 million a year earlier, due in part to more issuers closing inactive accounts.According to industry watchers, local banks and card firms have been cleaning up dormant accounts since a massive data leak earlier this year. A series of accidents

Five intellectual property experts of the IP5, a global patent cooperation framework, are gathering in Busan this week for a meeting hosted by the Korean Intellectual Property Office. Launched in 2008, the conference aims to enhance the efficiency and stability of patent rights. The host country’s KIPO commissioner, Kim Young-min, is a former director general for trade and Industrial cooperation at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. He served as a deputy commissioner at KIPO from 2011-2

State-run Korea Electric Power Corp, the county’s biggest utility firm, said Friday it finished building a 1,204-megawatt thermal power plant in Rabigh, Saudi Arabia.“It is the biggest power plant project in Saudi Arabia, completed by an independent power producer,” KEPCO said in a press release. KEPCO CEO Cho Hwan-ik took part in the ceremony with other VIPs, including Saudi Deputy Minister for Electricity Saleh Bin Hussein Al Awaji to celebrate the competition of the mega-power project.  Saudi

Kumho Tires, South Korea’s leading tire maker, is betting big on tires for full-electric vehicles as the company’s future growth engine. “Years of experience in the EV market will give us a competitive edge when more electric vehicles go into mass production and become more popular,” a Kumho Tires official said. With governments toughening environmental regulations, carmakers have poured more resources into the emissions-free electric-powered vehicles in recent years, which also provides a boon

‘SEASONS Summer Special’KT&G will roll out limited edition SEASONS Summer Special cigarettes with a package designed for the season, the company announced Monday. The country’s leading tobacco maker said the special line will be available for sale for two weeks beginning Wednesday.The product is the latest in the SEASON series lineup, the only cigarette containing 2.0 milligrams of tar in the domestic market. It kept the lineup’s distinctive smooth taste and full-bodied flavor, the company said.

An employee of the country’s third-largest bank was belatedly found to have misappropriated a massive amount of money from the bank last year, regulators said Monday.The entry-level employee was caught embezzling about 131 million won ($127,900) from the bank over the course of several months for personal use, the Financial Supervisory Service revealed. Shinhan Bank detected the case in December last year and immediately reported the case to the FSS, according to the bank officials. The bank dis

The Financial Services Commission on Wednesday authorized Taiwan-based Yuanta Securities’ stock acquisition of Tong Yang Group’s troubled brokerage house.Yuanta’s shares will represent about 53.6 percent of Tong Yang Security’s outstanding shares, replacing Tong Yang International and Tong Yang Leisure as the largest stakeholder. “We’re hoping that the merger can help (Tong Yang Securities) introduce investment products that target both the domestic and overseas market,” an official from the Sou

The Korea Labor Foundation’s functions need to be streamlined to become more effective, says its new chief Eom Hyeon-taek. “The projects we handle do not fit the institution’s name or goal,” the secretary-general said in an interview with The Korea Herald on May 9.Until now, Eom says, the foundation has been tasked with carrying out a wide range of state labor-related projects that do not match its intended purpose. The government programs that the foundation has been in charge of include employ