SEOUL, Nov. 5 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s top financial regulator vowed Wednesday to reconsider compensation standards for investors in the so-called Belgian Fund scandal if evidence of mis-selling is confirmed, as part of a broader push to strengthen consumer protection in the financial sector. Lee Chan-jin, governor of the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), made the [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 30 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s financial authorities are moving to tighten oversight of insurance agents in an effort to curb their involvement in fraud, introducing measures that would mandate pre-screening and expand public disclosures of disciplinary records. The Financial Services Commission said Wednesday it discussed the reforms during a meeting of the Insurance [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 7 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s non-life insurers are escalating a fierce competition to secure “exclusive usage rights,” which grant temporary monopolies over newly developed insurance products, as the industry pushes for innovation amid slowing growth in traditional sectors such as auto coverage. According to the General Insurance Association of Korea, domestic insurers [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 2 (Korea Bizwire) — Worker productivity at South Korea’s five largest commercial banks jumped nearly 27 percent in the first half of 2025, topping 200 million won ($147,000) per employee for the first time, according to regulatory filings. The gains narrowed a long-standing gap with internet-only banks, whose per-capita profit, while still higher [...]
SEOUL, Aug. 26 (Korea Bizwire) — More than eight out of 10 bond traders expect the central bank to keep its policy rate steady this week amid housing market instability and increased volatility in the foreign exchange market, a survey showed Tuesday. According to the survey conducted by the Korea Financial Investment Association last week, [...]
SEOUL, Aug. 19 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea’s household credit hit a fresh high in the second quarter of this year, amid a rise in loans borrowed for real estate purchases, the central bank said Tuesday. The outstanding credit to households stood at 1,952.8 trillion won (US$1.4 trillion) as of end-June, up 24.6 trillion won [...]
SEOUL, Aug. 15(Korea Bizwire) — August 2025 marks the 20th anniversary of the introduction of comprehensive property trust services in South Korea, but industry experts warn the system remains largely symbolic, hindered by outdated regulations. Despite growing interest in asset management services amid rising household wealth, comprehensive property trusts—which allow financial institutions to collectively manage [...]
SEOUL, Aug. 11 (Korea Bizwire) — Seoul’s central bank said Monday it has signed a renewed memorandum of understanding (MOU) with its Vietnamese counterpart, the State Bank of Vietnam, to promote bilateral partnership. The updated MOU, initially signed in 2004, aims to deepen cooperation in various areas between the two central banks, including monetary policy [...]
SEOUL, August 5 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea’s major banks are ramping up restrictions on home-backed loans and jeonse (long-term rental deposit) financing, signaling a coordinated move to cool the property market and manage household debt more tightly. On August 5, Hana Bank announced it would halt new applications for mortgage and jeonse loans scheduled for [...]
SEOUL, July 30 (Korea Bizwire) — More than 100 Gyeonggi Province residents have received compensation through the region’s pioneering climate insurance program, as record heatwaves continue to drive a sharp rise in heat-related illnesses. As of July 28, the Gyeonggi Provincial Government reported a total of 110 insurance payouts: 60 cases related to heat illness, [...]