SEOUL, Aug. 28 (Korea Bizwire) — The Bank of Korea submitted a report to the Strategy and Finance Committee of the National Assembly today in which it predicted that this year’s economic growth would fall short of 3 percent despite the improving global economy and supplementary revisions made to the national budget. The central bank [...]
SEOUL, Aug. 28 (Korea Bizwire) – Corporate lending extended by South Korea’s nonbank financial institutions surged nearly 17 percent in the first half of the year amid tougher rules for household loans, central bank data showed Monday. Outstanding corporate loans by local secondary financial institutions, including credit cooperatives and savings banks, came to 113.4 trillion [...]
SEOUL, Aug. 28 (Korea Bizwire) — Foreign ownership of listed firms belonging to South Korea’s top 10 conglomerates tumbled nearly 4.6 percent over the past month amid a market correction, data showed Monday. Offshore investors held a combined 349.2 trillion won (US$310 billion) worth of shares in 95 listed firms of the leading business groups [...]
SEOUL, Aug. 25 (Korea Bizwire) — Only one month after the launch of Kakao Bank, the groundbreaking financial institution still enjoys great popularity, having already attracted some 3 million account holders. Pre-existing banks that had already entered the mobile financial space and K-Bank, the first internet bank in Korea, haven’t been able to draw as [...]
SEOUL, Aug. 24 (Korea Bizwire) — Gold-related funds in South Korea have posted stellar returns over the past month, data showed Thursday, as geopolitical risks chilled the stock market and stoked investors’ flight to safety. Those funds posted an average return of 3.49 percent in the month to Wednesday, the top performer among local investment [...]
SEOUL, Aug. 23 (Korea Bizwire) — A report released on August 22 ranking the fourteen major life insurance companies by risk-based capital ratios showed four of the top five places occupied by foreign companies. Samsung Life Insurance held down second place with a 331.8 risk-based capital ratio (RBC), followed closely by Lina Life Insurance with [...]
SEOUL, Aug. 23 (Korea Bizwire) – With South Korean internet-only financial institution Kakao Bank continuing to enjoy a significant level of attention, business partner 7-Eleven is benefiting from the online bank’s popularity. In the midst of the surging popularity of Kakao Bank that is sweeping the country, 7-Eleven has emerged as the unexpected beneficiary from [...]
SEOUL, Aug. 22 (Korea Bizwire) - A report showing the number of employees at seven major banks revealed that there were 4,076 fewer employees at the end of June compared to the same time last year. Of the 4,076 employees who either quit or were let go, 3,218 were temporary staff and the remaining 858 [...]
SEOUL, Aug. 21 (Korea Bizwire) – Security loopholes have been found in the newly launched South Korean internet-only bank Kakao Bank, as a number of cases of identity theft have been reported to the company. According to Kakao Bank on Sunday, up to ten reports were filed after users found out either a bank account [...]
SEOUL, Aug. 18 (Korea Bizwire) — Foreign ownership of stocks traded on South Korea’s secondary stock market has hit a new high, data showed Friday, as offshore investors turn to undervalued tech firms there after exiting the main bourse. As of Thursday, offshore investors held 25.98 trillion won (US$22.8 billion) worth of shares traded on [...]