Business - The Korea Times

KakaoBank fined for faulty remittance service

The logo of KakaoBank is seen at its headquarters in Pangyo, Gyeonggi Province. YonhapBy Lee Min-hyungThe Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) imposed a sanction on KakaoBank for the lender's faulty programming test of an overseas remittance service.The watchdog slapped the mobile-only lender with an institutional caution and a fine of around 150 million won ($115,000), after some users' overseas remittance transactions did not progress as they had intended.According to the announcement by the FSS, KakaoBank violated a set of financial rules by failing to secure stability in transactions for its users.KakaoBank failed to exercise due care in guaranteeing the accuracy of its remittance program and did not take enough time and sufficient pre-testing before opening services to customers, according to the watchdog.The institutional caution is considered a light level of punishment that the FSS slaps on financial institutions here. When any financial firms receive tougher sanctions, such as an institutional warning and sales suspension, they cannot take over other companies for a year and

Jul 29, 2022By Lee Min-hyung

KakaoBank fined for faulty remittance service

Mobile driver's licenses launched

Participants in the launching ceremony for mobile driver's licenses around the country, including Financial Supervisory Service Deputy Governor Lee Joon-soo, second from left, Interior and Safety Minister Lee Sang-min, fifth from left, Shinhan Bank CEO Jin Ok-dong, seventh from left, Kakao Bank CEO Yoon Ho-young, eighth from left, and Naver Financial CEO Park Sang-jin, 10th from left, pose at the Gangseo Driver's License Examination Office in Seoul, Thursday. The state-run Korea Minting, Security Printing & ID Card Operating Corp. (KOMSCO) announced the nationwide launch of mobile driver's licenses, based on blockchain technology. It is expected to enhance user convenience, as it is equivalent to a plastic license, while users only have to carry their smartphones with them. Courtesy of KOMSCO

Jul 28, 2022By Yoon Ja-young

Korea Investment fined for improper short-selling

Korea Investment & Securities headquarters on Yeouido, Seoul / Courtesy of Korea Investment & Securities By Anna J. Park Financial regulators imposed a penalty on Korea Investment & Securities earlier this year over the firm's short-selling practices that violated regulations. According to an electronic disclosure system by the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) on Thursday, Korea Investment & Securities stated that it was fined 1 billion won ($770,000) by the FSS and the Financial Services Commission (FSC) in late February for its wrongful short-selling practices carried out over three years from 2017 to 2020. The brokerage company actually paid 800 million won, as the financial authority gave it a 20 percent discount. From February 2017 to May 2020, Korea Investment & Securities shorted some 140 million shares of 938 companies, but notated the transactions as selling, not as short-selling. It is a violation of the short-selling rules in the Capital Market Act. N

Jul 28, 2022By Anna J. Park

Korea Investment fined for improper short-selling

Korea to crack down on illegal short-selling practices

Hyundai Card, Yanolja form strategic partnership

Yanolja CEO Lee Su-jin, left, and Hyundai Card Vice Chairman and CEO Chung Tae-young sit next to each other in this promotional photo distributed by Hyundai Card on July 27. Courtesy of Hyundai CardBy Anna J. Park Hyundai Card and Yanolja have joined hands for a broad-range partnership that includes the issuance of private label credit cards (PLCC), joint branding and marketing as well as cooperation in data science analysis. According to Hyundai Card on Wednesday, the credit card company will launch a Yanolja-branded PLCC later this year, offering diverse benefits in the areas of accommodation, leisure activities, performances as well as transportation. Various leisure platforms, including Yanolja, Interpark, Daily Hotel and Triple, will allow special benefits and discounts for card holders. The two companies also agreed to cooperate on industrial trend analysis by combining Hyundai Card's data science technology and Yanolja's leisure-related big data resources. “By joining hands with Yanolja, which has earned a dominant status in the leisure industry, Hyundai Card aims to be

Jul 28, 2022By Anna J. Park

Hyundai Card, Yanolja form strategic partnership

Eximbank led by new chief who comes from within own ranks

New Export-Import Bank of Korea (Eximbank) Chairman and President Yoon Hee-sung delivers a speech during his inauguration ceremony at Eximbank headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul, Wednesday. Courtesy of Eximbank By Yi Whan-wooThe Export-Import Bank of Korea (Eximbank) is led by a figure who comes from its own ranks, marking a progressive step, unlike other public institutions that have been stirring controversy for their “parachute appointees,” or heads who have been appointed due to their connections with the current government. Eximbank said Wednesday that new Chairman and President Yoon Hee-sung took office after serving at the state-run lender for more than 30 years and retiring in January 2020 as a vice chairman.Operating under the wing of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, Eximbank has never had a chairperson with the record of having been internally promoted since its establishment in 1976.The organization has mostly been led by retired high-ranking officials fr

Jul 27, 2022By Yi Whan-woo

Eximbank led by new chief who comes from within own ranks

Top financial regulator with industry representatives

Financial Services Commission (FSC) Chairman Kim Joo-hyun, center, talks with heads of financial industry lobby groups at the Korea Federation of Banks (KFB) headquarters in Seoul, Wednesday. At the meeting were KFB Chairman Kim Gwang-soo, Korea Life Insurance Association Chairman Chung Hee-soo, General Insurance Association of Korea Chairman Jung Ji-won, Korea Federation of Savings Banks Chairman Oh Hwa-kyung, and representatives from Korea Financial Investment Association and Credit Finance Association. At the meeting, Kim vowed to pursue deregulation to expand the scope of the financial industry, while asking for support from the financial industry to help those hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. Yonhap

Jul 27, 2022By Yoon Ja-young

Top financial regulator with industry representatives

Abnormal overseas money transfers at 2 banks valued at 4.1 tril. won: watchdog

The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) / YonhapKorea's financial watchdog said Wednesday its probe found abnormal foreign exchange transactions reported by two major banks, Woori Bank and Shinhan Bank, were valued at 4.1 trillion won ($3.2 billion).Unspecified local cryptocurrency exchanges were involved in the suspicious foreign currency transactions, and most of the money was remitted abroad, according to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS).The FSS has been conducting inspections into the two lenders, as they reported to the watchdog that their local branches handled abnormal overseas money transfers worth a combined 2.5 trillion won. (Yonhap)

Jul 27, 2022

Abnormal overseas money transfers at 2 banks valued at 4.1 tril. won: watchdog

Assets of 8 key financial groups nearly double over decade

A row of ATM machines belonging to major banks are lined up in Seoul in this photo taken, Aug. 5, 2021. Korea Times fileMajor financial groups in Korea have seen their assets almost double over the past decade on the back of their push for business expansion, data showed Wednesday.The country's eight financial groups had 3,221.7 trillion won ($2.46 trillion) as of the end of 2021, up 95 percent from 2012, according to the data from corporate tracker CEO Score.The eight financial groups are KB, Shinhan, Hana, Woori, NH Nonghyup, Mirae Asset, Meritz and Korea Investment Holdings.In particular, their overseas assets came to about 128 trillion won last year, up a whopping 90 trillion won from the end of 2012.Their assets in the United States were the largest at 25.9 trillion won, followed by China with 15.9 trillion won, Indonesia with 15.3 trillion won and Vietnam with 13.6 trillion won. The ratio of assets held by their non-bank units grew solidly over the period, with that for the securities and investment sectors swelling by 5.8 percentage points.The combined net income of those fina

Jul 27, 2022

Assets of 8 key financial groups nearly double over decade

Toss Bank criticized for Korean-only language service

Toss Bank headquarters in southern Seoul / NewsisBy Anna J. ParkToss Bank is the country's first internet-only bank that opened its doors to foreign residents. The digital bank announced in May this year that foreigners in Korea can open up accounts. However, the bank is now being grilled by expats here for failing to provide language services in English or other foreign languages.A posting recently uploaded on “Every Expat in Korea,” a Facebook group with more than 69,000 members, pointed out that despite the fact that Toss Bank provides services for foreign expats, the service is in the “Korean language only.”“Huh? Toss Bank 'for foreign expats' in South Korea provides services in 'Korean language only,'” the posting reads. More than 50 comments followed as of 11 a.m. Tuesday, agreeing with the poster's sentiments. “It's a shame that Korea refuses to service foreigners in this subtle way and always makes excuses to understand Korea's unique situation. (…) Someone please pay them more so they can hire foreigners,” a member of th

Jul 26, 2022By Anna J. Park

Toss Bank criticized for Korean-only language service

Woori Bank embezzlement suspect stole far more than previously estimated: financial watchdog

A press briefing on an embezzlement case linked to Woori Bank is held at the Financial Supervisor Service (FSS) headquarters on Yeouido, Seoul, Tuesday. Yonhap By Yi Whan-wooA Woori Bank employee who was arrested recently for embezzlement took far more money than the prosecution had originally concluded when it pressed charges against him in May, the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) said, Tuesday.The FSS said the case reveals Woori Bank had a serious defect in its self-regulatory control system when securely managing customers' money.The amount allegedly embezzled by the employee, identified as a male employee who had worked at the bank for more than 10 years, turned out to be 69.7 billion won ($53.2 million), up from the original figure of 61.4 billion won discovered by the prosecution earlier.The suspect was working at Woori Bank's corporate division dealing with companies that are financially troubled and require corporate restructuring.He allegedly stole the

Jul 26, 2022By Yi Whan-woo

Banking & Finance