While recent figures indicate the Korean economy is on the path of recovery, weak household consumption and a fragile property market could remain challenges for the country, an economist from the Asian Development Bank projected. In its Asian Development Outlook report released Thursday, the international organization based in Manila forecast Korea's gross domestic product to grow by 2.2 percent in 2024 and 2.3 percent in 2025, signaling a turn from the 1.4 percent increase observed last y

Economy April 11, 2024

The race to receive the license to become South Korea’s fourth internet-only bank is growing fiercer, with four bidders announcing their will to contend. There are currently three online lenders in Korea: KBank, Kakao Bank and Toss Bank. But four new contenders -- Soso Bank, Korea Credit Data Bank, and the U-Bank and Douzone Bank consortiums -- have lined up to compete for the fourth license. In line with the local regulator Financial Services Commission’s vision to encourage financi

Industry April 10, 2024

South Korean regulators’ push for banks to make up for investors’ losses incurred from equity-linked securities tied to a Hong Kong index has left both Korean and foreign banks baffled. Korea's major lenders accepted compensation guidelines suggested by financial watchdog the Financial Supervisory Service last month, agreeing to partly redress investors for the losses from the ELS products. The payback scheme is expected to cost around 2 trillion won ($1.47 billion) in total for

Industry April 8, 2024

Shinhan Bank, one of the country's top commercial lenders, has thrown its hat in the ring for a license that would make it the country's fourth internet-only bank, competing in the digital space with K bank, Kakao Bank and Toss Bank. Shinhan has joined a consortium launched by Douzone Bizon, an enterprise resource planning software provider, to win approval to launch an internet-only bank. Online lenders here provide most financial services from savings to loans, operating without a ph

Industry April 7, 2024

IBK Venture Investment, an investment arm of the state-owned Industrial Bank of Korea, pledged to inject 500 billion won ($370 million) into local startups over the next three years at an event in Seoul on Thursday. The investment unit, the ninth subsidiary under the IBK Financial Group, was founded in December with an initial capital of 100 billion won to fund early-stage startups. It was licensed as a new technology venture capital business in March, according to the lender. While IBK Venture

Industry April 4, 2024

South Korea's foreign exchange reserves rebounded in March after a two-month decline, backed by deposits and investment gains offsetting the strong US dollar, the central bank said Wednesday. The country's foreign reserves had come to $419.25 billion as of late March, up $3.51 billion from the previous month, according to the data from the Bank of Korea. The figure advanced on-month after declining for the first two months of the year. It moved down $4.4 billion and $20 million in Janu

Economy April 3, 2024

Cryptocurrency exchange operator Crypto.com said Tuesday it would launch its exchange app service in Korea this month while expressing its hope for winning the regulatory nod for Korean won-based transactions soon, the company announced Tuesday. The firm said it will launch an exchange app for Korean users on April 29, enabling coin-to-coin transactions through the license earned by local exchange OK-Bit. Through the launch, Crypto.com will become the first regulated foreign player to operate a

Industry April 2, 2024

South Korea's JB Financial Group said Monday it has signed a partnership with OKXE, a Vietnam-based platform for used motorcycles, eyeing the expansion of its brokerage business in the country. At a signing ceremony held in Seoul on Friday, JB Financial Group and its affiliate JB Investment agreed to acquire a combined 8 percent stake in OKXE. OKXE was launched in Vietnam in 2020 by CEO Kim Woo-seok, bringing used motorcycle transactions from offline to online. With over 8 million users as

Industry April 1, 2024

Korea's top lenders have all decided to accept the compensation guidelines suggested by the country's financial watchdog, agreeing to make up for the losses from the misselling of equity-linked securities tied to a Hong Kong index, with KB Kookmin Bank and Shinhan Bank joining the list Friday. Following company board meetings held earlier in the day, KB Kookmin Bank and Shinhan Bank announced they would carry out the compensation procedure, accepting the voluntary-basis plan suggested

Industry March 29, 2024

Hana Financial Group, one of South Korea's top four finance conglomerates, has joined hands with Credit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank to strengthen cooperation in expanding its business in Europe, the firm said Friday. The two entities have signed an agreement to expand cooperation in corporate and investment banking, treasury and trade finance, and financing for environment, social and governance-related initiatives. Hana Financial Group Vice Chair Lee Eun-Hyung, Xavier Musca, the

Industry March 29, 2024

Korea failed to join the World Government Bond Index, a global benchmark that measures the performance of sovereign bonds, but it remains hopeful as the index provider gave a positive evaluation of its latest efforts to improve market accessibility. The WGBI, managed by Financial Times Stock Exchange Russell, is one of the three major government bond indices along with the Bloomberg-Barclays Global Aggregate Index and JP Morgan Government Bond Index-Emerging Markets. It is tracked by global fund

Economy March 28, 2024

Korean banks have rolled out a financial package worth around 600 billion won ($444 million) to support small business owners and young people, with an aim to share their profits, according to the Korea Federation of Banks, an organization representing the lenders, Wednesday. The funding is a follow-up to a financing plan worth 2.1 trillion won issued in December amid regulatory pressure to share the profits. While 1.5 trillion won was allocated for cash refunds for borrowers' interest paym

Industry March 27, 2024

Yoon Byung-un, an investment banking veteran, officially took office as the CEO of local brokerage house NH Investment & Securities, after winning approval at the annual shareholders’ meeting Wednesday. “We must be ready to make another leap without being satisfied with the present. The first part of the preparation is bringing together the capability (of our organization),” Yoon said in an inauguration speech during the meeting at the firm's headquarters in Yeouido, w

Industry March 27, 2024

Recognizing the expansion of the foreign population in Korea, banks are striving to improve access for foreign residents here by providing customized services from the point of arrival to departure. As Foreign nationals are expected to take up a more significant portion of Korea’s demographics amid the nation's continued population decline, local lenders are looking to woo foreign customers through designated communication channels. Korea's top four financial groups -- KB, Shinha

Politics March 26, 2024

The Export-Import Bank of Korea, or Eximbank, announced it will form a 1 trillion won ($745 million) fund to support businesses in high-tech strategic industries, especially semiconductors and batteries. The policy lender will put in 150 billion won toward the fund which will close out at 1 trillion won. The fund will be used to provide preferential interest rates and loan limits to businesses related to chips, battery, bio, future mobility and electric engineering. It is the second fund establi

Industry March 25, 2024