SEOUL, Oct. 20 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea will revise a law and administrative regulations on the local banking industry to make it easier for banks here to tap into insurance and investment-related businesses, and open new offices abroad, the financial regulator said Thursday. The move is meant to give local banks more autonomy in [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 7 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea will relax regulations on local banks’ capital to help them improve profitability and raise global competitiveness, the nation’s top financial regulator said Friday. Yim Jong-yong, chairman of the Financial Services Commission (FSC), admitted that banks here are subject to some “excessive” rules including those on loan loss [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 5 (Korea Bizwire) – Recent data from the Bank of Korea shows that Korea’s shadow banking system has grown exponentially over the years, increasing potential risks and vulnerability in the Korean market. Shadow banking refers to non-bank financial institutions that provide traditional banking services but outside conventional financial regulations. According to data revealed [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 30 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea’s financial regulatory body said Friday it will soon decide whether to issue a permit for the nation’s first online-only bank. Two consortiums, one led by KT Corp. and the other by Kakao Corp., are preparing to enter the banking sector with their technical expertise. KT’s consortium submitted [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 26 (Korea Bizwire) – Amid rapid automotive innovation that has promoted enhanced driving safety, car insurance may gradually become nonessential. According to a KIDI report released Monday, if 50 percent of domestic vehicles are equipped with level 1 function-specific automation (NHTSA), including autonomous emergency and autonomous reverse braking technologies, annual insurance payouts will [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 23 (Korea Bizwire) – Tens of thousands of unionized bank workers in South Korea staged a walkout Friday against the expansion of a performance-based pay system in the nation’s financial industry. There were no reports yet of major disruptions in banking services across the country, as the participation rate was apparently lower than [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 22 (Korea Bizwire) – Amid concerns over last week’s historic earthquake and the hundreds of aftershocks that have followed, some insurance companies have ceased to offer earthquake insurance products. A record magnitude-5.8 earthquake struck the peninsula on September 12 with its epicenter some eight kilometers south of Gyeongju. Since the original temblor, some [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 21 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea’s chief financial regulator called on the nation’s umbrella bank union Wednesday to withdraw its plan to go on a general strike later this week, saying such a collective action will never win public support especially at a time when the local banking industry faces a “life-or-death” crisis. [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 7 (Korea Bizwire) – Starting October 5, Korea will launch its first debit card cashback service at convenience stores. Although a popular practice in a number of western countries, the service has not yet been introduced to Korean consumers. In a nutshell, the service is offered to customers who wish to add a certain [...]
SEOUL, Aug. 25 (Korea Bizwire) – Starting September 1, adult ADHD patients in Korea will be able to have their ADHD medication expenses partially covered by the national health insurance plan. Attention deficiency hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, although largely perceived as a condition most prevalent in children and teenagers, is also becoming common among adults. [...]