SEOUL, Dec. 26 (Korea Bizwire) – Major insurance companies in South Korea are increasing their capital to prepare for new accounting rules set to take effect next year and more U.S. rate hikes, industry sources said Monday. Local insurance companies are estimated to expand their capital by a combined 1.41 trillion won (US$1.17 billion) this [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 19 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea will relax a regulation on the capital ratio of local banks this week in a move to reduce their financial burden, the country’s finance regulator said Monday. The Financial Services Commission (FSC) will allow them to designate their loan-loss reserves as common capital stock under the revised [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 14 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea’s financial authorities on Wednesday approved a plan to establish the country’s first online-only bank, opening a new chapter in its banking history. It would mark the first time here in 24 years for a brand-new bank to be born, according to the Financial Services Commission (FSC). The [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 13 (Korea Bizwire) – The board of directors at seven major commercial banks decided Monday to implement a performance-based pay system – a controversial wage system introduced under the troubled Park Geun-hye administration. The seven institutions are Woori Bank, Shinhan Bank, KB KookminBank, KEB Hana Bank, SC Cheil Bank, and Citibank. Officials have [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 8 (Korea Bizwire) – The number of cash dispensers (CD) and automated teller machines (ATM) fell for a second straight year in 2015 on growing demand for Internet and mobile banking services, South Korea’s central bank said Thursday. The Bank of Korea said the number of CDs and ATMs across the country came [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 6 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea’s Shinhan Bank said its Indonesian unit, Bank Shinhan Indonesia (BSI), has completed a merger with another Indonesian bank in the latest move to seek a new growth engine in the world’s fourth most populous country. BSI won an approval from the Indonesian financial authorities for its plan [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 1 (Korea Bizwire) – The Bank of Korea announced Thursday a pilot project to allow convenience store customers to charge their prepaid public transportation cards using spare change, the first step forward to a “coinless society.” According to representatives, the BOK will begin a selection process of convenience store franchises that will take [...]
SEOUL, Nov. 28 (Korea Bizwire) — The ratio of South Korean savings banks’ loans extended to households hit a record amid shrinking corporate investment, data showed Sunday. Their outstanding loans totaled 41.1 trillion won (US$34.9 billion) as of end-September, up 15.77 percent from the end of last year, according to the Bank of Korea’s economic [...]
SEOUL, Nov. 24 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea’s financial authorities said Thursday they will step up efforts to streamline Internet banking procedures by promoting the removal of unnecessary security software and the minimum use of digital certificates. The measures are part of the government’s financial reform drive, and were drawn up by a council of [...]
SEOUL, Nov. 24 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea said Thursday it will soon introduce a new early warning system for potential risks from the nation’s massive household debt, especially as interest rates here may soon start an upward trend. Household debt totaled 1,295.8 trillion won (US$1.1 trillion) as of the end of September, up 3 [...]