South Korean financial regulators said Wednesday that they would crack down on unfair trading practices this year, with a focus on false disclosures, unlawful short-selling and high-frequency trading activities.The Financial Supervisory Service has set its sights on curbing unlawful short-selling by closely monitoring sudden increases in stock value and their possible links to insider trading. The agency said in a statement that it would also step up its monitoring of foreign investment companie

Market Feb. 26, 2019

South Korea’s financial regulator plans to establish an open interbank payment network this year that can be accessed not only by banks but also financial technology companies, with the goal of bolstering the country’s fledgling fintech business sector. The Financial Services Commission on Monday announced plans to create an open financial payment system accessible to nonbank players, and to lower the required usage costs. The move is expected to help Korea foster more successful fin

Market Feb. 25, 2019

Whether it’s a subway station or a local market, it’s easy to spot signs across Seoul promoting Zero Pay, a state-sponsored mobile payment system designed to lower credit card processing costs for small merchants and business owners here.Led by the Seoul Metropolitan Government, the Zero Pay system was introduced in beta trials in December. But a couple of months into its launch, public interest in the state-sponsored mobile pay system remains weak, while doubts persist about the mer

Market Feb. 25, 2019

Banksalad, South Korea’s leading mobile app for personal finance management, said Friday that the number of its monthly active users had reached 1.5 million, marking a threefold increase from its average for last year.Founded in 2012 by local startup Rainist, Banksalad pools a user’s financial information from different banks and finance companies into a single platform. This consolidates data for bank accounts, investments, savings bonds and more. Upon analyzing a user’s finan

Market Feb. 22, 2019

South Korea’s wholesale prices hit a 12-month low in January, affected by a decline in crude oil prices, the Bank of Korea said Friday.The central bank said the producer price index, an economic indicator that tracks the prices of goods sold in a country before they reach consumers, had reached 103.75 last month, down 0.2 percent from a month earlier. The index was seen continuing its downward streak for a fourth consecutive month and hitting its lowest point since January 2018, when

Market Feb. 22, 2019

Woori Financial Group has set out to acquire Hi Asset Management, marking the first step in its stated moves to expand its nonbanking business through strategic mergers and acquisitions and strengthen its holding company structure.Woori Financial was among those that joined the preliminary bidding process for Hi Asset Management on Monday, alongside Kiwoom Securities and a number of private equity funds from Korea and abroad, according to an industry report. Hi Asset Management, a subsidiary of

Market Feb. 19, 2019

Hana Financial Group, South Korea’s third-largest banking group, said Tuesday that it has partnered with SK Telecom and Kiwoom Securities to take aim at forming a new internet-only bank here.The three companies have formed a consortium with Kiwoom Securities holding the biggest stake. Together, they are embarking on preparations to apply for a government-issued license to operate an online-only bank here, according to Hana Financial. The move comes as the firms seek to further embrace the

Market Feb. 19, 2019

Foreign investors in South Korea continued to purchase more locally listed stocks while offloading bonds last month, the latest data on foreign investors’ stock and bond ownership by the Financial Supervisory Service showed Monday.Foreign investors net purchased some 3.73 trillion won ($3.32 billion) in locally listed stocks during January, continuing the transition to net buying observed in December last year, according to the FSS.By region, Europe net purchased 1.7 trillion won in stocks

Market Feb. 18, 2019

South Korea should encourage the establishment of an independent research body that produces unbiased securities reports to guide investors, suggests a latest report by the Korea Institute of Finance.According to a KIF report Sunday, the proportion of “sell” opinions for Korean companies that were adopted by local securities companies between September 2017 to September 2018 stood at a mere 0.1 percent.During the same period, the proportion of “sell” opinions adopted by f

Market Feb. 17, 2019

The Korea Customs Service, the body in charge of clearing all goods that enter and leave South Korea, is out to become a leader in “smart customs” systems powered by next-generation technologies.The KCS continues to improve its automated customs administration solution, UNI-PASS, which has so far been exported to 13 countries and is spreading Korea’s high-tech customs management know-how around the world, it said.With UNI-PASS as its anchor, the customs service provider will work to establish a

Industry Feb. 17, 2019

The chiefs of South Korea’s top 10 conglomerates are expected to collect record-high dividends for 2018 on the back of generous dividend payouts from the listed companies, according to data from corporate market tracker Chaebul.com on Sunday.Together, the heads of Korea’s 10 biggest family-owned conglomerates are poised to earn about 757.2 billion won ($670 million) in dividends for the fiscal year of 2018. This marks a 42.4 percent rise from 531.8 billion won in dividends they collected in 2017

Industry Feb. 17, 2019

South Korea’s major banking groups are actively seeking mergers and acquisitions to expand their nonbanking business, in an effort to diversify incomes in light of volatilities in the main banking sector.Faced with the government’s efforts to lower lending rates, banks here have been turning their attention to diversifying their portfolio, focusing on acquiring nonbanking finance firms, such as loan service providers and credit card firms.The latest move was made by KB Financial

Market Feb. 14, 2019

Global credit card giant Visa is planning to open a new innovation center in South Korea as it seeks to expand partnerships with local financial technology startups to develop the next generation of payment solutions.“Korea is considered an epicenter of fintech innovation. To pursue a more meaningful fintech-big tech collaborative business model, we are planning to establish an innovation center here,” said Patrick Yoon, country manager for Visa International Asia Pacific Korea, duri

Market Feb. 13, 2019

South Korea’s four major banking groups logged record net profits in 2018 on the back of robust interest income, with Shinhan Financial Group retaking its position as the country’s No. 1 banking group with the best earnings performance.Shinhan Financial posted a net profit of 3.16 trillion won ($2.89 billion) in 2018, up 8.2 percent from the previous year. It is the highest net profit recorded by the group to date, led by big gains from Shinhan Bank.According to Shinhan Financial, it

Market Feb. 12, 2019

The preliminary bidding for Lotte Capital, the loan services unit of Korean-Japanese conglomerate Lotte Group, takes place Tuesday, with the country’s major banking groups and private equity funds expected to participate. Lotte Capital is one of the three Lotte companies currently on the market. The two remaining firms on sale -- Lotte Card and Lotte Non-Life Insurance -- already held the preliminary bidding on Jan. 30, with a number of conglomerates and PEFs showing interest. Among the th

Market Feb. 11, 2019