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An official from Shinhan Bank holds a sign promoting an ATM with a newly developed technology that recognizes customer eye movement. The technology was designed to help the disabled use the machine without difficulty at the bank's branch in Seoul, Dec. 27. New ATMs will be set up at the bank's select branches in the first half of 2019. Courtesy of Shinhan Bank
Financial groups appoint more women to executive postsBy Lee Kyung-min A growing number of Korea's major financial service firms have appointed women as CEOs or senior executives.This is seen as a significant advancement inching closer to breaking the glass ceiling in the conservative industry long dominated by male-oriented culture. On Dec. 21, Shinhan Financial Group nominated two women to fill senior executive positions in 2019 ― Wang Mi-hwa and Cho Kyoung-sun. Park Jeong-rim at KB SecuritiesThe nomination is in addition to that of former KB Financial Group and Kookmin Bank Vice President Park Jeong-rim, who was nominated Dec. 20 to head KB Securities as co-CEO. The firm's general shareholders meeting approved the nomination the following day, making her the industry's first female CEO in the history of Korea's securities market since its launch in March 1956. Shinhan with the two nominations is now able to shed its earlier image of not having a single female senior executive, a source of criticism that the firm long remained “indifferent” to gender equality. In a
Officials from Hyundai Marine & Fire Insurance and VietinBank Insurance Joint Stock Corp. pose after signing an agreement under which the former will buy a 25 percent stake in the latter, Dec. 21, in Hanoi, Vietnam. Courtesy of Hyundai Marine & Fire InsuranceBy Lee Kyung-min Hyundai Marine & Fire Insurance will acquire a 25 percent stake in VietinBank Insurance Joint Stock Corp. (VBI), in a move to accelerate business expansion in the Southeast Asian country, the firm said Tuesday. Korea's second-largest non-life insurer said it signed a stock purchase agreement to buy a quarter of the VBI. The deal will be finalized upon approval from the Vietnamese financial authorities. “A great synergy will be created with the business partnership boosted by the great potential of the VBI and our decades of experience and knowhow,” a Hyundai official said in a statement.VBI, a non-life insurer subsidiary of Vietnam's second-largest commercial bank VietinBank, ranks 13th in market capitalization only 10 years after its establishment. It was named among the 500 fastest-growi
Naver's head office in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province / Korea Times fileBy Lee Kyung-min Expectation is growing that Korea's largest portal Naver is on a fast track to opening the country's third internet-only bank. This follows the government's move to allow up to two more tech firms to enter the financial market by 2020, as part of efforts to spur the digital economy through the “new growth engine.” The Financial Services Commission (FSC) said Sunday it plans to receive applications from internet and tech firms in March and preliminary approvals will be made in May at the latest.It said allowing more internet-only banks is in line with the regulator's efforts to upgrade the financial sector.The ongoing move will inevitably unnerve the two established internet banks, Kakao Bank and K bank, given Naver's capacity to provide substantial capital and its years of business experience as an IT giant. Naver may show a greater interest in the coming months following the revision of a law under which nonfinancial firms with over 10 trillion won ($8.9 billion) in assets will be able
Korea Federation of Banks Chairman Kim Tae-young, fourth from right, poses with his Algerian counterpart Achour Abboud, center, and federation officials from both countries at Hotel El-Aurassi in Algeria, Dec. 17. (local time) The two sides agreed to strengthen cooperation in the finance sector. Courtesy of Korea Federation of Banks
Shinhan Bank Vietnam model Park Hang-seo, the head coach of Vietnam's national football team, holds a sign promoting Shinhan Bank Vietnam SOL, a new all-in-one mobile banking application on Nov. 6. / Courtesy of Shinhan BankBy Lee Kyung-min Korean banks are enjoying growing brand recognition in Vietnam on the back of “explosive” popularity associated with Park Hang-seo, the head coach of the national football team who helped the southeastern country become the 2018 AFF Suzuki Cup champion. The notable embrace followed his remarks asking that the Vietnamese public love his country as much as it loves him. “I would like to share the joy of victory with my players, the coach and the Vietnamese people. Please love my country Korea as much as you love me,” he said Dec. 15 (local time) at the MyDinh Stadium in Hanoi. Shinhan Bank has seen the greatest benefit after hiring Park and Luong Xuan Truong, a soccer player of the Vietnamese national team, as celebrity endorsers. The number of customers increased to about 1.2 million won as of Dec. 10, a 20 percent increase
KakaoPay CEO Ryu Young-joon speaks at a press conference in Seoul, Nov. 19. Korea Times fileBy Lee Kyung-min KakaoPay and Viva Republica, two budding fintech firms in Korea, are seeking to enter the securities market, unnerving the traditional industry players known for their strong resistance to newcomers and the ensuing disruptions.In October, KakaoPay, the fintech subsidiary of Kakao Corp., acquired a 60 percent stake of Baro Investment & Securities, a mid-tier brokerage established in 2008 with 57.3 billion won ($50 million) annual sales and 7.3 billion won net income in 2017. At least six months will be required for Viva Republica, the operator of financial services platform Toss, to set up a securities firm, 11 years after the last launch of state-run IBK Securities and KTB Investment and Securities, both of which began business in 2008. KakaoPay said the acquisition will help the firm diversify business models by expanding the services from the current cash wiring or payment to investment in stocks, funds and real estate. “Upon approval from the financial authorities
By Lee Kyung-min The Korea Development Bank (KDB) said Tuesday that it will support GM Korea spinning off its research unit, a dramatic reversal from its earlier opposition to the controversial plan that the company's union has strongly protested against.The KDB said the spinoff will help the Korean unit of the U.S. auto giant boost profitability by strengthening its corporate management via proper debt management, and provide a boost in corporate value. KDB Chairman Lee Dong-gull / Yonhap“We asked a disinterested, outside party to review the carmaker's business plan and determined that the current contract will best serve the interests of those involved,” KDB Chairman Lee Dong-gull said at a press conference at company headquarters in Seoul.“A legal consultation also showed that the current plan will help us reduce costs, given we have limited means of seeking redress measures as KDB is not a direct party to the business contract. Should we resort to legal proceedings, the dragged-out process will pose a major hurdle to the normalization of the carmakers operations
Jim Rogers Korea Times fileBy Lee Kyung-min Legendary investor Jim Rogers will be appointed as an outside director of Ananti, according to a leisure company, Friday.The move has raised expectation that the long-stalled inter-Korean cooperation could resume through the American known for his vocal support for the need to warm toward the isolationist North.Ananti owns a large-scale resort with a golf course and an outdoor hot spring at Mt. Geumgang in North Korea. The firm said a board meeting will be convened Dec. 27 to pass the motion to appoint him for a three-year term.Many experts say the inter-Korean economic projects could find momentum given the company holds a right to operate the leisure facility at the scenic resort and with the fast thawing of longstanding military tension.The resort closed only two months after it opened after a North Korean soldier killed a South Korean tourist in 2008 claiming that she “provoked” him by not immediately complying with his order to halt. Rogers, one of the world's three most famous investors together with George Soros and Warre
KEB Hana boasts best overseas performance for 2 consecutive yearsBy Lee Kyung-min Korean lenders have enjoyed steady growth in their revenue and income from abroad on the back of their efforts to strengthen their overseas presence, particularly in Southeast Asia.KEB Hana Bank recorded a net income of 297.5 billion won ($263 million) in its global operations in the first nine months of 2018, the best overseas performance among the four major Korean banks for the second consecutive year.This accounted for 15.7 percent of its 1.89 trillion won revenue in the cited period. “Our overseas network has been steadily expanded,” a KEB Hana official said. “We have opened 14 branches overseas in the first nine months of this year. We will continue with this business strategy, fully capitalizing on our well established overseas channels based on foreign currency exchange operations.”Shinhan Bank's overseas business saw 244.8 billion won in net income in third quarter, a 24.4 percent increase from a year earlier. The significant jump was due in large part to the successful