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Today Finance

Won breaches 7-month low against dollar

South Korea’s local currency fell for four consecutive trading days and breached a seven-month low against the US dollar, amid investor risk aversion and the strengthening dollar following growing fears of a US-China trade war.(Yonhap)The dollar-to-won exchange rate came to 1,104.8 won in closing Monday, up 7.1 won compared to the previous session’s close Friday. The higher rate equals weaker won. The Korean won was the weakest in seven months since closing on Nov. 15, 2017 at 1,112.3 won agains

Woori Bank to seek approval for holding company structure

South Korea’s Woori Bank is set to apply for regulatory approval Tuesday to adopt a financial holding company structure.Following a regular board of directors’ meeting Tuesday, the bank will submit a plan for the restructuring to the Financial Services Commission, a financial regulator, according to the company. (Yonhap)If the bank manages to earn a regulatory nod from the FSC by mid-November, the reform plan will be confirmed in the shareholders meeting at the end of this year. A new holding co

Today
Finance
Household debt crisis shows little sign of abating: data

The increasing pace of household credit in South Korea showed little sign of abating, data showed Sunday, and the lingering debt crisis is likely to affect Korean households‘ finance amid central bank pressure for a key rate hike in tandem with the US Fed hike last week.(Yonhap)Total credit to households as a percentage of gross domestic product came to 94.8 percent as of the fourth quarter of 2017, up 2.2 percentage points from the year prior, according to data by the Bank for International Set

Jun 18, 2018
Finance
Prosecution indicts 38 bank officials for hiring misconduct

The prosecution has indicted 38 officials from South Korean commercial and provincial banks, including former and incumbent chiefs, on charges of exerting inappropriate influence on entry-level employment, in the latest development in the local financial sector’s hiring scandal.The Supreme Prosecutors’ Office on Sunday announced it had sent the officials, including KEB Hana Bank Chief Executive Ham Young-joo and ex-CEO of Woori Bank Lee Kwang-goo, to trial. While Ham and Lee were booked without

Jun 18, 2018
Finance
Banks set to jack up lending rates after US rate hike

South Korean banks are poised to raise their lending rates after the key interest rate in the Unites States reached the 2 percent range, market sources said Sunday.As widely expected, the US Fed raised its rate by a quarter of a percentage point to a range of between 1.75 percent and 2 percent last week, signaling that two more rate increases may be on the cards this year.According to the sources, COFIX, a benchmark lending rate for mortgage loans, was 1.82 percent for new loans as of Saturday,

Jun 17, 2018
Finance
Police begin probe into Coinrail hacking attack

The South Korean police began an investigation on Monday after Korea’s seventh largest crypto exchange Coinrail lost more than 40 billion ($37 million) in altcoins in an apparent attack by hackers over the weekend. “We secured the access history of Coinrail servers and we are in the process of analyzing them,” said a police spokesperson. (Coinrail-Yonhap)The police said it would figure out whether the leakage of the cryptocurrencies are caused by hacking or computer network problems. On Monday

Jun 12, 2018
Finance
Prosecutors raid Shinhan Bank in probe into hiring irregularities

Prosecutors raided the head office of Shinhan Bank on Monday as part of an investigation into allegations that its officials gave special favors to children of the bank's ranking officials, allowing them to take jobs at the lender. Investigators from the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors' Office were sent to search the bank's human resources and inspection departments to confiscate evidence, the prosecution said. They also searched residences of some of the officials. Prosecutors launched a pro

Jun 11, 2018
Finance
Financial authorities to tighten anti-money laundering rules

Financial authorities plan to tighten anti-money laundering regulations ahead of next year's assessment of South Korea by an intergovernmental organization set up to combat illicit movement of funds, officials said Sunday.The Financial Action Task Force, a body established with the mission of clamping down on money laundering, will conduct its assessment on South Korean efforts in 2019. The FATF has also strengthened rules to stamp out money laundering as the liberalization of markets and popula

Jun 10, 2018
Finance
Wider US-Korea rate gap expected to rekindle concerns of capital outflows

The gap between key South Korean and US interest rates will widen further if the US Federal Reserve raises its key rate again this week, a move that would rekindle worries of capital outflows, according to analysts Sunday. Currently, South Korea's base rate stands at 1.5 percent, the same as the lower end of the US policy rate. Traders have expected the Fed to raise its key rate by a quarter percentage point to a range of 1.75 percent to 2 percent this week. The current interest rate reversal is

Jun 10, 2018
Finance
Kakao Bank to launch chatbot to upgrade unmanned customer service

Kakao Bank, South Korea’s largest internet-only bank, on Friday showcased a beta version of a customer service chatbot it expects to play a crucial role in enhancing its unmanned operation. The service will officially launch this month, the company said, without elaborating.The launch is expected to relieve the burden of existing customer services, for which 80 percent of customer inquiries were simple issues that could be addressed by the system, according to the bank. (Yonhap)Veronica Lee, pro

Jun 9, 2018
Finance
Seoul stocks slump ahead of G-7 summit

South Korean stocks closed lower Friday to end a five-day winning streak as investors tried to lock in profits from recent gains, amid lingering trade concerns ahead of a Group of Seven meeting, analysts said. The Korean won weakened against the US dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index sank 19 points, or 0.77 percent, to close at 2,451.58. Trade volume was relatively heavy at 510.91 million shares worth 7.19 trillion won ($6.69 billion), with losers outnumbering winners 553 to 2

Jun 8, 2018
Finance
[Herald Interview] Cashnote streamlines card income management for retailers

The Korea Herald is publishing a series of interviews on promising startups in the financial technology industry. This is the 16th installment. - Ed.To retail shop owners occupied with day-to-day operations, managing card payments is an integral part of doing business, but at the same time, a time-consuming hassle.Vendors in South Korea, where there are a total of eight card companies in business, also face the same situation, particularly as cards have become the main means of payment.In 2017,

Jun 6, 2018
Finance
Samsung SDS launches blockchain-powered financial infrastructure

Samsung SDS on Monday launched a financial platform powered by blockchain and artificial intelligence, designed to help the local banking industry to cut cost, minimize security threats and streamline financial procedures, the firm said.Ryu Hong-jun, finance business division leader of Samsung SDS, speaks at a press conference to announce the launch of the blockchain-powered financial infrastructure Nexfinance in Seoul on Monday. (Samsung SDS)Dubbed “Nexfinance,” the new platform features user a

Jun 5, 2018
Finance
Korean markets to close on June 13 for election

South Korea’s financial markets will shut down on June 13 for a designated holiday for local election, according to the Korea Exchange Monday. (Herald DB)Markets trading equities, derivatives and commodities here will be closed throughout the day, based on the internal regulations by the KRX. Also, settlement or liquidation of stocks, derivatives and interest rate swaps in Korean won and US dollar will not be conducted during the day.The KRX operates markets for stocks, exchange-traded funds or

Jun 5, 2018
Finance
Govt. to tighten reporting rules on financial transactions

The government has proposed a bill to toughen the rules for reporting on certain financial transactions, the country's top financial regulator said Sunday.The move is part of Seoul's ongoing efforts to better ferret out financial crime and money laundering activities, the Financial Services Commission said.South Korea has tightened regulations on anti-money laundering and possible terrorism financing, targeting some loopholes that may be used by people to conceal their wealth. (Yonhap)The FSC sa

Jun 3, 2018
Finance

The Korea Herald by Herald Corporation

Address : Huam-ro 4-gil 10, Yongsan-gu,Seoul, Korea
Online newspaper registration No : Seoul 아03711
Date of registration : 2015.04.28
Publisher. Editor : Kwon Chung-won
Juvenile Protection Manager : Shin Chang Hoon
Tel : 02.727.0114