SEOUL, May 2 (Korea Bizwire) — The government will actively consider granting a license to set up the nation’s third Internet-only bank, as part of its efforts to ease entry barriers to the financial sector, officials said Wednesday. Financial Services Commission (FSC) Vice Chairman Kim Yong-beom unveiled a series of measures to soften regulations in [...]
SEJONG, Apr. 30 (Korea Bizwire) — Nonregular workers in South Korea have seen their wages rise nearly 30 percent over the past decade, but the increase has almost been offset by inflation, data showed Sunday. The gross monthly wages of temporary workers in Asia’s fourth-largest economy stood at 1.51 million won (US$1,410) as of the [...]
SEOUL, Apr. 26 (Korea Bizwire) — Telemarketers selling insurance over the phone will now have to pace their explanations at a certain speed to ensure consumer protection, one of many other new measures crafted by the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS). The FSS, drawing upon the expertise of external professionals to identify 177 specific tasks, created [...]
SEOUL, Apr. 18 (Korea Bizwire) — Growth in South Korea’s auto insurance market slowed last year due to intensifying competition and lower premiums, data showed Wednesday. The car insurance market grew 2.7 percent on-year to 16.8 trillion won (US$15.7 billion) in 2017, according to the data by the Financial Supervisory Service. The figure contrasts with [...]
SEOUL, Apr. 1 (Korea Bizwire) — Local banks reduced their workforces and branch offices last year by the greatest number since 2000, with digitalization-driven downsizing accelerating, data from the financial regulator showed Sunday. The number of employees in the banking sector at the end of last year totaled 111,173, down 3,602 from the previous year, [...]
SEOUL, Mar. 23 (Korea Bizwire) — Major foreign investment banks (IBs) have forecast South Korea’s central bank to hike interest rates once this year due to the fallout from growing protectionism and a slowdown in job creation, a report said Friday. The projection runs counter to views by some market watchers that the Bank of [...]
SEOUL, Mar. 21 (Korea Bizwire) — The government has announced a series of reforms to boost the South Korean financial technology industry, which could see brand new products including artificial intelligence-based insurance products introduced. The plans revealed by the Financial Services Commission (FSC) on Tuesday revealed a number of new financial products, including insurance products based [...]
SEOUL, March 20 (Korea Bizwire) – Members of South Korea’s central bank policy board agreed to freeze the key rate last month as inflation pressure remained low and economic growth was moderate, according to minutes from the monetary meeting released Tuesday. The Bank of Korea’s (BOK) monetary policy board meeting on Feb. 27 held the base rate at 1.50 percent for the second time in a row since raising the rate for the first time in more than six years [...]
SEOUL, March 15 (Korea Bizwire) – Foreign currency deposits at banks in South Korea dropped for the second-straight month in February amid the strong U.S. dollar trend, central bank data showed Thursday. Foreign currency deposits held by banks here reached US$80.96 billion at the end of February, down $940 million from a month earlier, according to the data compiled by the Bank of Korea (BOK). It said [...]
SEOUL, March 14 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Wednesday promised his country’s continued cooperation with the Asian Development Bank (ADB), hailing the bank’s role in the development of countries in the region. “ADB’s contribution to the development and growth of our Asian region has been great. I believe ADB’s role will continue to be very important in the [...]