Business - The Korea Times

KakaoBank ranks highest in productivity

The entrance of KakaoBank's headquarters located in Pangyo, Gyeonggi Province / Newsis By Anna J. Park KakaoBank turns out to have achieved the highest rate of productivity among local commercial banks last year. According to the banking industry Friday, the internet-only bank's productivity per employee in 2021 stood at 349 million won ($286,000), which is a 63-percent increase from the previous year. The per-person productivity is much higher than the average of the country's four major banks, which stood at 265 million won in 2021. It was a 16.7 percent year-on-year increase, but lagged far behind the performance of its mobile-based competitor. Among the four major local lenders, Hana Bank ranked the highest with a per-person productivity of 315 million won, followed by Shinhan at 271 million won, KB Kookmin at 245 million won and Woori at 229 million won. KakaoBank also exceeded its banking peers in Human Capital Return on Investment (HCROI), an indicator showin

Apr 1, 2022By Anna J. Park

Umbrella union of financial workers protests Yoon's KDB relocation plan

The logo of Korea Development Bank (KDB) is seen in front of its headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul. Korea Times fileBy Yi Whan-wooThe Korean Financial Industry Union, a labor group representing workers at private and public banks nationwide, issued a statement, Friday, protesting President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol's pledge to move Korea Development Bank (KDB) from Seoul to Busan.The union claimed that the possible relocation could seriously impact the efficiency of KDB's operations and cause inconvenience to corporate customers, decrease government support concentrated on Seoul-headquartered financial entities and trigger the departure of skilled workers.The union delivered the statement to the presidential transition committee after holding a press conference near the committee's office in central Seoul. “The relocation is being pursued in a hasty manner with sufficient explanation to convince the involved parties,” union leader Park Hong-bae said, calling on Yoon to scrap the plan immediately.He said he agrees with Yoon on the need for balanced regional development, but argued

Apr 1, 2022By Yi Whan-woo

Umbrella union of financial workers protests Yoon's KDB relocation plan

KDB chairman faces uncertain future

Korea Development Bank (KDB) Chairman Lee Dong-gull speaks during a press conference at KDB's headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul in January. Yonhap DSME CEO appointment puts Lee in hot seatBy Yi Whan-wooKorea Development Bank (KDB) Chairman Lee Dong-gull is finding himself increasingly exposed to unfavorable circumstances in completing his term through September 2023, with a dispute over the appointment of a new CEO of Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) adding to uncertainty concerning his future.The state-run KDB is the main creditor of debt-ridden DSME, with a controlling stake of 55.7 percent.The DSME CEO dispute comes as the latest in a series of rows between the outgoing and incoming administrations of President Moon Jae-in and President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol in picking the next chiefs and other senior figures of government-affiliated entities outside Cheong Wa Dae and the Cabinet.The conflicts have involved the leadership of the Bank of Korea and the Bo

Apr 1, 2022By Yi Whan-woo

Chairman Kim Ki-hong starts another term for JB Financial Group

JB Financial Group Chairman Kim Ki-hong / Courtesy of JB Financial GroupBy Anna J. Park JB Financial Group's Chairman Kim Ki-hong will serve for three more years until March 2025, the group announced Thursday, the day after his reelection as group chief was confirmed at a shareholders' meeting.The financial group explained that Kim's re-election was attributed to the chairman's successful leadership, under which the group's annual net profit more than doubled during the past three years through restructuring of business portfolios. The group's annual net profit recorded 506.6 billion won last year, a remarkable jump from 241.5 billion won ($199.9 million) in 2018. With Kim's impressive financial performance, the group's executive candidate nomination committee was unanimous in recommending another term for him at the end of last year. The committee especially evaluated his vision, expertise and leadership positively. Since March 2019, Kim has been at the helm of the financial group. Before he became the chief of JB Financial, he built his financial career in various related sectors,

Mar 31, 2022By Anna J. Park

Chairman Kim Ki-hong starts another term for JB Financial Group

Outgoing BOK chief calls for discussions on central bank's roles other than fighting inflation

BOK Gov. Lee Ju-yeol speaks at a farewell press conference held Feb. 22. Newsis The outgoing chief of the Bank of Korea (BOK) called Thursday for a serious discussion on the possibility of changing the roles of the central bank beyond its main obligation of keeping inflation in check, in line with growing demand for it to have more interest in growth, employment and other social issues.BOK Gov. Lee Ju-yeol made the call in a farewell speech before leaving office Thursday after eight years at the helm. He will be replaced by Rhee Chang-yong, a senior official from the International Monetary Fund, who was named to lead the central bank last week. Rhee is preparing for a National Assembly confirmation hearing widely seen as a formality."The global financial crisis resulted in adding financial stability to the list of obligations for the BOK, and recently growing social attention on employment has promoted discussions in some quarters on how this can be reflected in the

Mar 31, 2022

Outgoing BOK chief calls for discussions on central bank's roles other than fighting inflation

BOK logs largest net in 2021 on decreased expenses

Bank of Korea / Yonhap Korea's central bank reported its largest net income in 2021, Thursday, thanks to a decline in expenses. The Bank of Korea (BOK) logged 7.86 trillion won ($6.49 billion) in net profit last year, up from the previous year's 7.37 trillion won, according to data provided by the bankGross revenue came to 19.08 trillion won last year, which was 782.2 billion won smaller than the previous year. But expenses shrank sharply with its interest payments on currency stabilization bonds, in particular, down 781.6 billion won year-on-year.The BOK issues monetary stabilization bonds to control liquidity in the market and makes interest payments on the debt. An official explained that the central bank's steep rate cuts in 2020 to bolster the pandemic-hit economy led to a decline in interest payments last year. As of end-2021, the BOK held assets valued at around 595.64 trillion won, up from 538.73 trillion won a year earlier, the data showed. The increase was

Mar 31, 2022

BOK logs largest net in 2021 on decreased expenses

Regulator launches inspection into Toss

Financial Supervisory Service Governor Jeong Eun-bo speaks during a financial platform conference in Seoul, Jan. 26. YonhapBy Lee Min-hyungThe Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) has launched an inspection into Toss, as part of its on-site monitoring of financial firms this year. Earlier, the watchdog shared its plan to step up its inspections of internet-only lenders and financial arms of the so-called platform giants such as Naver and Kakao, after they were mired in a series of controversies including personal data leakage and top executives' massive stock sales. According to the financial industry, Toss, one of Korea's most successful fintech-only startups, became the first target for the FSS' occasional inspection this year.The FSS will look into whether Toss operates its business by ensuring customer protection and abides by relevant financial regulations here. After the authority finishes the inspection of Toss, it plans to move onto companies such as Naver Financial and KakaoPay.A key issue is whether the financial authorities need to impose less strict regulations on fin

Mar 31, 2022By Lee Min-hyung

Banks set to ask president-elect to ease regulations on digital asset-related services

A row of ATM machines belonging to major banks are lined up in Seoul in this photo taken in August 2021. Korea Times fileBy Yi Whan-wooThe Korea Federation of Banks (KFB), a lobby group representing lenders, plans to ask President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol to ease regulations and allow them to advance into digital assets and robot-assisted investment businesses, according to industry sources, Wednesday.The federation's move comes as the banking sector faces a growing challenge in finding growth engines, as they are restricted from advancing into non-banking industries, while big tech giants are allowed to capitalize on their digital prowess and muscle into banking services.KFB is working on details before finalizing its demand on behalf of the lenders and delivering it to Yoon's transition committee, possibly in early April, the sources said.“It is noteworthy that the banks desperately want to gain a foothold in digital asset-related services,” a source said.The areas of business they are eyeing encompass all available services using digital coins, such as crypto exchanges, cry

Mar 30, 2022By Yi Whan-woo

Banks set to ask president-elect to ease regulations on digital asset-related services

New Woori Bank leader expands sales unit to maximize profitability

Woori Bank CEO Lee Won-duk delivers a speech after taking office as the new leader of Woori's banking arm at its headquarters in Seoul, March 24. Courtesy of Woori BankBy Lee Min-hyungWoori Bank is moving to enhance its sales capability under the new leadership of CEO Lee Won-duk, conducting a major organizational reshuffle with a focus on expanding commission revenues.Lee took office as the new leader of the banking arm of Woori Financial Group last week. With the banking arm elevating the status of key sales units recently, expectations are that the lender will engage in more aggressive sales expansion under the two-year tenure of Lee. The strategy is aimed at maximizing the lender's profitability this year, after the group completed its long-awaited privatization in November. The reshuffle was centered on promoting three unit-level divisions of real estate finance, foreign exchange, and investment product strategy into groups.The decision reflects Lee's strong willingness to reap more commission profits from the key sales groups. Woori's commission revenue reached 979.3 billion wo

Mar 30, 2022By Lee Min-hyung

New Woori Bank leader expands sales unit to maximize profitability

Korea Exchange delays decision on delisting Osstem

Osstem Implant headquarters in Seoul / YonhapBy Lee Min-hyungThe Korea Exchange decided Tuesday afternoon to delay making a decision on whether to delist scandal-tainted Osstem Implant from the tech-laden Kosdaq.The corporate screening committee of the exchange failed to come to a conclusion on the agenda despite a discussion that lasted for hours.“We have decided to continue reviewing the issue,” the exchange said in an announcement. Trading of Osstem Implant shares has been suspended since early January this year after one of its employees allegedly embezzled 220 billion won ($180 million). This is the single largest embezzlement scandal in Korea.Earlier, some industry analysts noted the possibility of a resumption in trading of the firm's stocks on the junior bourse, raising expectations among investors.The exchange did not share further details, but committee members are known to have remained poles apart on the agenda and a series of other issues, such as the possible timeline of a resumption in trading of the firm's shares if they decide not to delist it. Those in f

Mar 29, 2022By Lee Min-hyung

Banking & Finance