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AhnLab shares plunge on founder's political defeat

Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo of the ruling People Power Party, right, shakes hands with Rep. Kim Gi-hyeon following the results of a vote to choose the new leader of the party, at KINTEX exhibition center in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, March 8. Joint Press Corps-YonhapBy Lee Min-hyungShares of AhnLab, a security software company, reported a double-digit price decline, Thursday, after Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo suffered a crushing defeat in the race for leadership of the ruling People Power Party (PPP). Ahn is the founder and the largest shareholder of the company.AhnLab shares started trading with the huge fall reflecting investors' disappointment in the overnight election result. The stock price of the company closed at 64,300 won, down 12.75 percent from the previous session.The firm's share price soared to around 97,000 won in early February on hopes that Ahn would become the party leader. But that sentiment lost steam rapidly as the possibility of his election win weakened. According to the vote results, Kim Gi-hyeon, the newly elected chairman of the party, won 52.93 percent of the ballots, while

Mar 9, 2023By Lee Min-hyung
AhnLab shares plunge on founder's political defeat

Tussle escalates between Lotte, Meritz over fund loss

Lotte Insurance headquarters in Seoul / YonhapBy Lee Min-hyungLotte Insurance and Meritz Securities are locked in a heated tug-of-war over the brokerage's sale of $160 million (210 billion won) in risky fund products which incurred huge losses. The controversial fund was established in December 2018. The Lotte affiliate invested $50 million in the fund about two months later.But with Blackstone ― the world's leading alternative asset manager which has a close link to the fund ― declaring default on the product in 2020, Lotte Insurance ended up reporting losses in all of the invested capital in only about two and a half years.The non-life insurer argued that Meritz did not fully explain the inherent risk of the fund product. But the securities firm countered, saying that officials from Lotte and Mertiz conducted due diligence of a thermoelectric power plant in Texas for the investment which was used to operate the facility.Earlier this week, Lotte Insurance brought its complaints to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) and asked the authority to review possible illegalities in the

Mar 9, 2023By Lee Min-hyung
Tussle escalates between Lotte, Meritz over fund loss

KDIC aims to expand scope of deposit insurance

Yoo Jae-hoon, president of the Korea Deposit Insurance Corporation (KDIC), speaks during a press conference held at the Korea Press Center in central Seoul, Wednesday. Courtesy of KDIC State firm unveils plans to better protect consumersBy Anna J. ParkThe Korea Deposit Insurance Corporation (KDIC), a state-led company that insures deposits across the local financial industry, has unveiled its new strategic vision, aiming to expand the scope of deposits that it insures.“The traditional deposit insurance system, which focuses on responding to situations with ex-post measures, cannot properly address future financial risks,” Yoo Jae-hoon, president of the KDIC, said during a press conference held in central Seoul, Wednesday. “Foremost of all, the scope of financial consumer protection should be expanded, breaking the current protection regime centering on savings deposits.”He highlighted that the deposit insurance agency should come out of the current system to offer b

Mar 8, 2023By Anna J. Park
KDIC aims to expand scope of deposit insurance

Banks urged to embrace agile transformation - Legacy lenders need to dive deeper

By Choi Jung-kiu Digital customer journeys are now an essential part of any modern bank's offerings, but despite this clear imperative, six out of 10 financial service companies still fail to achieve their digital transformation goals.Boston Consulting Group (BCG) works closely with financial institutions across the Asia-Pacific region, offering valuable insights on the importance of putting customers at the heart of transformation goals. In our report, “Taking Digital Banking Beyond Customer Journeys,” we explore the challenges of a truly customer-focused transformation, and the remarkable rewards financial institutions can unlock by delivering on this need.Our extensive experience supporting financial services partners around the globe tells us that digital transformation must capture the whole customer value stream, from customer-facing, front-end experience, right through to the foundations of process operations, risk, legal and compliance and technology that are ultimately so fundamental to an effective offering. The reality is that creating an encouraging picture ab

Mar 8, 2023
Banks urged to embrace agile transformation - Legacy lenders need to dive deeper

Startup acceleration policies needed in global ChatGPT competition: Samil PwC report

gettyimagesbankBy Anna J. ParkWhile the latest technology of ChatGPT is sending global shockwaves through industries, a report published by Samil PwC on Tuesday urges the government to come up with systemic startup incubation and acceleration programs and support policies to secure artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. The report, titled “Is ChatCPT an opportunity or threat?” stressed that the natural language-processing technology will fundamentally alter the production of global industries, while accelerating similar AI-based technologies. Among others, the content and IT sectors are expected to be the most influenced by AI innovation, while the impact would be felt in almost every industry, ranging from advertising, media and semiconductors to cybersecurity. “As ChatGPT is able to create based on big data-based machine learning capabilities, it will be a game changer of productivity in countless industry sectors,” said Lee Do-shin, a partner at Samil PwC who leads the firm's unicorn platform department, adding that domestic AI technologies lag far behi

Mar 7, 2023By Anna J. Park
Startup acceleration policies needed in global ChatGPT competition: Samil PwC report

Woori Bank CEO abruptly resigns

Banking group carries out executive reshuffle ahead of new chairman's appointmentBy Yi Whan-wooWoori Bank CEO Lee Won-duk tendered his resignation, Tuesday, in the lead-up to the official appointment of new Woori Financial Group Chairman Yim Jong-ryong who competed with Lee for the nomination last month.Lee's decision came on the same day the banking group carried out a reshuffle of the CEOs of eight affiliates whose terms expired.Woori Bank CEO Lee Won-duk / Courtesy of Woori Financial GroupYim's official appointment is scheduled for March 24 during an annual shareholders' meeting. A former financial bureaucrat and disputed political appointee, Yim is highly anticipated to win the approval of shareholders.Under the circumstances, Lee's offer to quit was seen as a surprise, because he still had 10 months remaining before the end of his tenure and he was not on the list of the reshuffle, Tuesday.The banking group did not immediately pick Lee's successor and kept the seat empty.It went ahead with the reshuffles at the eight affiliates whose chiefs' terms expired in December or January.

Mar 7, 2023By Yi Whan-woo
Woori Bank CEO abruptly resigns

Haitai denies suspicions of inflating sales figures to boost share price

Haitai Confectionary & Foods headquarters in Seoul / Screenshot from the company's official websiteBy Lee Yeon-wooHaitai Confectionary & Foods is suspected of inflating sales performance figures by billions of won between 2016 and 2017, raising suspicions that it manipulated information intentionally to jack up its stock price. The head office denied the suspicions, blaming “regional sales offices” for the irregularities.According to industry sources, tax authorities found out last year that some of Haitai's sales offices issued abnormally large amounts of sales and tax statements to inflate their sales figures between 2016 and 2017 and offloaded the amount on wholesalers.Local media reported, Monday, that a wholesaler received a notification from the tax agency last month that he will be taxed an additional 28 million won ($21,556) due to Haitai's action. He was told by the tax agency that a fraudulent transaction was spotted in the 2017 data and that additional taxes will be imposed as a result. Many other wholesalers dealing with Haitai are also facing similar

Mar 7, 2023By Lee Yeon-woo
Haitai denies suspicions of inflating sales figures to boost share price

Internet banking customers up 8.5% in 2022 on mobile service use

Registered customers for mobile banking totaled some 207.04 million at the end of last year, up 8.5 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from the Bank of Korea. GettyimagesbankThe number of customers for internet banking in Korea continued to grow in 2022 as more online services are available and people prefer transactions on the go, central bank data showed Tuesday. Registered customers for mobile banking totaled some 207.04 million at the end of last year, up 8.5 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from the Bank of Korea.The figure includes multiple accounts held by customers.The daily average transactions made through the internet came to 76.3 trillion won ($5.9 billion), an 8.2 percent increase from the prior year, the data showed.The number of daily internet banking users also rose 13.8 percent on-year to about 19.71 million in 2022.Behind the rise lies a spike in the number of registered mobile banking users, which came to 169.22 million last year, up 10.3 percent from a year earlier. Mobile banking users have been on the rise thanks to multiple int

Mar 7, 2023
Internet banking customers up 8.5% in 2022 on mobile service use

Kakao announces tender offer to gain stable management control over SM

In this Oct. 19, 2022 file photo shows the loby of Kakao Agit in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, Korea. The Korea Times photo by Seo Jae-hoonKorean tech giant Kakao on Tuesday announced a tender offer for SM Entertainment shares to gain stable management control over the K-pop powerhouse and increase leverage to win the intensifying battle with Hybe.Kakao and its entertainment unit, Kakao Entertainment, offered 150,000 won ($115.4) per share to acquire an additional 8.33 million shares in SM Entertainment, with a goal to secure a combined 35 percent share, according to the company in a statement.The tender offer ends March 26."Kakao has decided to become the largest shareholder of SM Entertainment in a bid to maintain a stable partnership with the company," Kakao said. "Based on the horizontal partnership between the two companies, we will create great synergy to strengthen the global competitiveness and presence of Korean culture."Kakao's tender offer price is higher than that of Hybe, which offered 120,000 won per share to obtain up to a 25 percent stake in SM Entertainment. But Hybe'

Mar 7, 2023
Kakao announces tender offer to gain stable management control over SM

KakaoBank's CEO to begin 4th term in late March

KakaoBank CEO Yoon Ho-young speaks during an online press conference held at the internet-only bank's office located in Yeouido, Seoul, Feb. 15, 2022. Courtesy of KakaoBankBy Anna J. Park KakaoBank's CEO Yoon Ho-young successfully secured his fourth two-year term that will begin later this month. Kakao Bank announced Monday that the internet-only bank's executive appointment committee selected Yoon as the sole candidate for the bank's next chief. The decision on the digital bank's next top position will be officially confirmed at its shareholders' meeting slated for later this month.A graduate of Hanyang University, the 51-year-old leader is often called the “father of KakaoBank” as he has been leading the digital-only bank since its beginnings. After spending his early career as Daum's vice president from 2009 to 2014, he led the Daum-Kakao task force team to launch a mobile bank from late 2014 to early 2016. Then, he became the CEO of Kakao Bank in April 2016, a position he has maintained ever since. With his reappointment to the leading position of the digital lender,

Mar 6, 2023By Anna J. Park
KakaoBank's CEO to begin 4th term in late March
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