Business - The Korea Times

KB Insurance, Woowa Brothers disagree on motorcycle top boxes

Delivery workers drive motorcycles equipped with top boxes on a street in Seoul in this file photo. YonhapBy Park Jae-hyukKB Insurance has come into conflict with Woowa Brothers running the nation's leading food delivery app, Baedal Minjok, because part-time delivery workers driving motorcycles equipped with top boxes have been excluded from the insurer's budget insurance product for part-time delivery workers.The two companies and insurance startup Smallticket joined hands in 2019 to come up with the special insurance product for part-time food delivery workers using Woowa Brothers' Baemin Connect service.Starting from the first half of this year, the insurance products will also be available for part-time delivery workers using Yogiyo, Delivery Hero's food delivery platform which looks likely to be sold off to market to make way for the German company's planned takeover of Baedal Minjok.Some part-timers, however, have begun to complain about the policy recently, alleging they were not eligible for the insurance because of top boxes on their motorcycles.“The insurer abruptly s

Mar 16, 2021By Park Jae-hyuk

KB Insurance, Woowa Brothers disagree on motorcycle top boxes

IBK pressed to compensate for fund fiasco following Woori's decision

Industrial Bank of Korea CEO Yoon Jong-won speaks during an event to discuss next-generation vehicles industry in Seoul on Feb. 4. YonhapBy Lee Min-hyungThe Industrial Bank of Korea (IBK) is pressed to follow a similar path to Woori Bank which decided Monday to accept a regulator's arbitration result, and pay a sizable amount of compensation for its mis-selling of Lime Asset Management funds.Woori's decision came weeks after the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) dispute mediation committee released its own probe on the two banks last month. The recommendation urged the banks to provide compensation of up to 78 percent in principle to victims who had invested in the troubled Lime fund products.As Woori was the first to accept the request from the watchdog, the state-run lender is also set to accept the arbitration proposal sometime in the near future.“We have not confirmed whether or when to make the final decision over the arbitration result, but will make it public within this month,” an IBK spokesman said, without elaborating further due to the sensitivity of the issu

Mar 15, 2021By Lee Min-hyung

IBK pressed to compensate for fund fiasco following Woori's decision

AmMetLife CEO to lead AIG Korea

Ramzi Toubassy / Courtesy of AIG KoreaBy Park Jae-hyukRamzi Toubassy, chief executive of AmMetLife Insurance Berhad in Malaysia, has been appointed the new president and CEO of AIG Korea, the local unit of American International Group (AIG) said Monday.The announcement came after the global insurance giant's Korean subsidiary approved his appointment during an extraordinary shareholders meeting, Feb. 23, and the severance pay given to outgoing CEO Douglas Min during another shareholders meeting on the following day.According to AIG Korea, Toubassy will join the company April 1, a day after the planned retirement of Min, who joined the company in 2014 and became its CEO in 2018 after working for Swiss Reinsurance, General Reinsurance and Meritz Fire & Marine Insurance.The new chief executive also has more than 24 years of experience in the insurance industry.He began his career with AIG in New York, serving in senior leadership roles in the U.S., Lebanon, Hong Kong and Malaysia.He also worked as the deputy general manager and director of distribution at AIA Korea, before he became

Mar 15, 2021By Park Jae-hyuk

Will Korean Re manage to avoid sibling rivalry again?

Korean Reinsurance Company CEO Won Jong-gyu, left, and full-time adviser Won Jong-ikBy Park Jae-hyukAttention is being focused on whether Korean Reinsurance Company (Korean Re) full-time adviser Won Jong-ik's highly likely intervention in management affairs will lead to a dispute with his younger brother, CEO Won Jong-gyu, over control of the nation's only reinsurer.Market watchers are also wondering whether this will affect the third-generation family succession at the reinsurance company.According to a recent regulatory filing by Korean Re, the appointment of the older brother as an executive director will be discussed at a general shareholders meeting slated for March 26. If he successfully joins the board of directors, he will be able to take part in the decision-making process for the company's management.He has advised on Korean Re's engineering insurance underwriting and claim adjustment since 2010, based on his three decades of work experience at Daelim Industrial.He was once expected to clash with the Korean Re CEO, when their father, Chairman Won Hyuk-hee, died in 2016. Bac

Mar 14, 2021By Park Jae-hyuk

Will Korean Re manage to avoid sibling rivalry again?

POSCO Int'l becomes first Korean trading company to issue ESG bonds

By Kim Hyun-binPOSCO International is set to become the first trading company in Korea to issue ESG bonds, the company said Sunday. ESG stands for environment, social and corporate governance and is increasingly being used as a benchmark determining a company's eligibility for investments. POSCO International logo Out of a total 150 billion won in corporate bonds set to be issued by POSCO International, 80 billion will be allocated towards ESG.The money raised by the ESG bonds will be used to invest in the renewable energy sector, including wind and solar power and biomass.POSCO International recognized the importance of ESG management early on and has been communicating with its affiliated companies to create more value in that area.Last March, the company announced its participation in a project called “No Deforestation, No Peat, No Exploitation” (NDPE) as part of its eco-friendly management. Recently, affiliate POSCO SPS started manufacturing vehicle drive motor co

Mar 14, 2021By Kim Hyun-bin

POSCO Int'l becomes first Korean trading company to issue ESG bonds

Banks remain poles apart over cryptocurrency partnerships

The price of bitcoin is shown in an electronic board of Upbit, a cryptocurrency exchange, in Seoul on Mar. 12. YonhapBy Lee Min-hyungKorean banks are poles apart over whether to expand partnerships with local cryptocurrency exchanges amid ever-toughening financial regulations here.For now, three Korean commercial lenders ― Shinhan, NongHyup and K bank ― have clinched partnerships with major crypto exchanges here. This allows the exchanges to stably operate the business, as their users can transact digital currencies via real-name bank accounts issued by the affiliated banks.But other major lenders ― such as KB, Hana and Woori ― do not operate the service and remain skeptical over signing partnerships with cryptocurrency exchanges here ahead of the introduction of the so-called special financial information act.The act does not allow exchanges to operate if they fail to secure real-name bank accounts for their users. The act will take effect after a six-month grace period finishes in September.But chances remain slim for the banks having a negative viewpoint over such partnerships to

Mar 12, 2021By Lee Min-hyung

Banks remain poles apart over cryptocurrency partnerships

Hana, Shinhan join anti-coal campaign

Shinhan Financial Group headquarters in SeoulBy Kim Hyun-binMore financial institutions are joining carbon-neutrality and anti-coal campaigns in order to help companies shift to renewable energy.Hana Financial Group, which has vowed to become carbon neutral by 2050, joined the anti-coal campaign as part of its “Next 2030 Management Principles” goal as well as supporting the government's carbon-free initiatives.The Korean government aims to become carbon neutral by 2050 to transition in a green economy and maximize the utilization of renewable energy sources.Hana Financial Group will halt investing and financing the construction of coal power plants as well as acquiring related bonds.The lender also plans to establish an Environmental and Social Risks Management (ESRM) program in the first half of this year and restrict financial aid for businesses that harm the environment or commit human rights abuses.Hana aims to become a member of the Equator Principles pact within this year and plans to expand transparency in its environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) ma

Mar 10, 2021By Kim Hyun-bin

Environment ministry seeking to be 'facilitator' for carbon-neutral future

Banking groups fearful of 'unilateral' punishment from financial regulator

Korea Federation of Banks Chairman Kim Gwang-soo speaks during an online press conference at its headquarters in Seoul, Tuesday. Courtesy of Korea Federation of BanksBy Lee Min-hyungThe head of a federation representing the interests of Korean banks said lenders have grown fearful of “unilateral” punishment by financial regulators, which has apparently heightened uncertainties for top management. Korea Federation of Banks (KFB) Chairman Kim Gwang-soo said Tuesday that the punitive measures were aimed at chastising bank chiefs who fail to maintain control over their businesses, but the rationale used by regulators remains unclear.The comments centered on a recent decision by the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) to deliver harsh sanctions on Woori Financial Group Chairman Son Tae-seung and Shinhan Bank CEO Jin Ok-dong over their involvement in attracting customers to invest in a soured fund.The FSS took issue with the failure of the bank chiefs to maintain close watch over what investment products they sell. But most banks expressed concerns about a lack of logic in the

Mar 9, 2021By Lee Min-hyung

Banking groups fearful of 'unilateral' punishment from financial regulator

Foreign investment banks up South Korea's 2021 growth outlook to 3.6 percent

A woman walks past the Merrill Lynch & Co. headquarters in New York, U.S. YonhapMajor global investment banks (IBs) have revised up their forecasts for South Korea's 2021 economic growth for the third consecutive month amid growing expectations for a recovery, a report showed Tuesday.As of end-February, nine major global IBs, including Barclays, BoA-Merrill Lynch and Citi, forecast Asia's fourth-largest economy to grow 3.6 percent this year, up 0.1 percentage point from their median outlook a month earlier, according to the report by the Korea Center for International Finance.It represents the third consecutive month of outlook upgrades by those foreign institutions.In December, they raised their median outlook by 0.1 percentage point to 3.4 percent and hiked their average forecast to 3.5 percent in January.Their latest outlook for South Korea, however, was the second worst after Thailand (3.2 percent) among 10 Asian economies, with India, Taiwan, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Hong Kong, the Philippines and Vietnam being the other countries.Out of the 10 nations, foreign IBs ha

Mar 9, 2021

Foreign investment banks up South Korea's 2021 growth outlook to 3.6 percent

Shinhan Financial raises capital for M&A

The headquarters of Shinhan Financial Group / Courtesy of Shinhan Financial GroupBy Anna J. ParkShinhan Financial Group is attempting to raise more capital by issuing hybrid bonds worth 400 billion won ($353 million) later this month, following late last year's issuance of new stocks worth 1.15 trillion won. Market watchers see Shinhan's aggressive capital raising lately has to do with the financial giant's plan to add new businesses to the group's portfolio through mergers and acquisitions (M&As). Shinhan's 4 billion won worth of AT-1 bonds ― Additional Tier-1 ― could be further issued to up to 7 billion won at its maximum. The AT-1 bonds are called hybrid bonds or hybrid securities, as they combine characteristics of both bonds and equities in that they are a type of unsecured, perpetual bond that has no maturity date. Instead they have call options allowing banks to redeem them after a certain period. About 350 billion won of Shinhan's AT-1 bonds to be issued this time will have a five-year call option, while the remaining amount is slated to have a 10-year call option. Shinha

Mar 9, 2021By Anna J. Park

Banking & Finance