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CEO & Publisher: Oh Young-jinDigital News Email: webmaster@koreatimes.co.krTel: 02-724-2114Online newspaper registration No: 서울,아52844Date of registration: 2020.02.05Masthead: The Korea TimesCopyright © koreatimes.co.kr. All rights reserved.

Toss, Kakao Bank come under first FSS inspection

Toss' headquarters in southern Seoul / Korea Times fileBy Kim Bo-eunFinancial authorities are conducting their first inspection of Korea's leading fintech firms which are experiencing rapid growth. The audits will likely focus on internal control systems and risk management capabilities.According to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), the authority is launching its first inspection of the financial services platform Toss this week. The FSS is set to inspect the internet-only Kakao Bank in the fourth quarter of this year.The supervisory agency will look into Toss' security and financial conditions and check for any violations of the law governing e-transactions.Toss, established in 2015, started off offering mobile money transfer services. It has now grown into a platform offering 40 types of services. Using the platform, users can make payments, sign up for credit cards and insurance policies and make investments. Toss has 17 million users.Toss recorded its first surplus in the second quarter of this year, posting an operating profit of 1.7 billion won. This is the supervisory a

Aug 17, 2020By Kim Bo-eun
Toss, Kakao Bank come under first FSS inspection

Who earned most in finance sector this year?

By Kim Bo-eunHyundai Card Vice Chairman and CEO Chung Tae-youngHyundai Card Vice Chairman and CEO Chung Tae-young topped the list of chiefs in the financial sector in terms of pay received in the first half of this year, data showed.According to data from the Financial Supervisory Service, Sunday, Chung received a total of 2.66 billion won ($2.24 million) ― 1.08 billion won from Hyundai Card, 825 million won from Hyundai Capital and 754 million won from Hyundai Commercial ― in this period. The second-highest-paid leader of a financial firm is Mirae Asset Daewoo CEO and Mirae Asset Global Investment Group Vice Chairman Choi Hyun-man, who received 2.64 billion won.Following was Hana Financial Group Chairman Kim Jung-tai, with a paycheck of 2.27 billion won.This significantly exceeds the paychecks of the chiefs of the other three major financial groups. Shinhan Financial Group Chairman Cho Yong-byoung received 850 million won. Woori Financial Group Chairman Son Tae-seung and KB Financial Group Chairman Yoon Jong-kyoo followed, receiving 699 million won and 578 million won, respectively.

Aug 16, 2020By Kim Bo-eun
Who earned most in finance sector this year?

Citibank Korea CEO decides to step down

Citibank Korea CEO Park Jin-heiBy Park Jae-hyukCitibank Korea CEO Park Jin-hei told The Korea Times, Sunday, that he decided to step down voluntarily this month without seeking to serve a third term.The 62-year-old, who has led the U.S. banking giant's local subsidiary since 2014, was supposed to finish his second term in October. Following his decision, the bank plans to appoint an acting CEO at a board of directors' meeting, Tuesday. It will appoint a new CEO as soon as possible.Park said he has yet to make any specific plans for his retirement.He had worked at the Korea Development Institute and Samsung Securities. After he was appointed as Citibank Korea CEO, the commercial bank turned a profit in 2015. Recognized for his efforts to cut costs through the merger of 70 percent of bank branches and to pursue digitization, he began his second term in 2017.Park's decision to resign coincides with the bank experiencing a deterioration in profits.Citibank Korea posted 30.3 billion won ($25 million) in net profit during the second quarter, down 72.4 percent from a year earlier.The b

Aug 16, 2020By Park Jae-hyuk
Citibank Korea CEO decides to step down

Banks in dilemma over surging loan-to-deposit ratio

A small business owner, left, listens to an explanation about financial support programs at Shinhan Bank in Seoul. / Yonhap By Lee Min-hyungCommercial banks here are voicing concerns over their surging loan-to-deposit ratio amid the government's pressure on them to extend loan benefits to borrowers affected by the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic, industry officials said Friday.As of the end of the second quarter, the ratio at KB Kookmin Bank, the nation's largest lender, was 100.4 percent. This exceeds the government's recommended upper limit.Other major lenders ― such as Shinhan, Hana and Woori ― also reported a rise in the ratio, as they have been pressed to extend the maturity dates for loans offered to small- and medium-sized enterprises as well as small business owners hit hard by the nationwide coronavirus. Financial authorities have also urged banks to delay receiving interest from loans to help virus-hit parties recover from the pandemic shock.But

Aug 14, 2020By Lee Min-hyung
Banks in dilemma over surging loan-to-deposit ratio

Woori reviews setting up joint entity with KT

Woori Financial Group Chairman Son Tae-seung, left, and KT CEO Koo Hyun-mo / Courtesy of Woori Financial GroupBy Kim Bo-eunWoori Financial Group is reviewing establishing a joint company with telecommunications firm KT, among various options, according to the group, Thursday.The two formed an alliance last month on developing ICT-integrated financial services and drew up a related taskforce.“We are in the early stages of discussing ways we can cooperate,” a Woori official said. “Setting up a joint entity is one of many options.”This is a model set up in 2016 by Hana Financial Group and KT's telecommunications rival SK Telecom. Hana and SK respectively own 51 percent and 49 percent stakes in financial services platform Finnq. The fintech firm offers loan comparison services, based on data from SK Telecom. Data analysis is a key sector Woori and KT are expected to work together in.Regarding the focus on data, a Woori official said, "Woori's bank and card units have applied with the government to launch MyData businesses, so Woori could end up carrying out the da

Aug 13, 2020By Kim Bo-eun
Woori reviews setting up joint entity with KT

Banks rushing to recoup loans from cash-strapped SsangYong Motor

Seen above is SsangYong Motor's car repair service center in Guro-gu, southwestern Seoul. The struggling carmaker sold the facility for 180 billion won on June 1 to secure emergency funds amid financial difficulty. YonhapBy Lee Min-hyungKorea Development Bank Chairman Lee Dong-gullBanks are in a rush to recoup loans provided to SsangYong Motor, as the cash-strapped carmaker is teetering on the verge of collapse amid falling sales and growing setbacks in attracting new investors.KB Kookmin Bank, one of the major lenders here, recovered loans worth 8.75 billion won ($7.38 million) recently from SsangYong. The bank is no longer a creditor of the carmaker after the repayment of the company's loans, the lender said Thursday.“KB recovered the capital after SsangYong Motor disposed of collateral, a car repair facility in Guro-gu, southwestern Seoul,” a KB spokesman said. “We do not have any other loans offered to the carmaker.”This is raising concerns that other creditors of the carmaker will take similar steps, which will push the company further into a corner when

Aug 13, 2020By Lee Min-hyung
Banks rushing to recoup loans from cash-strapped SsangYong Motor

Helping hands amid torrential rain

Dozens of NongHyup Bank employees engage in restoration work at a farm damaged by heavy rain fall located in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province, Tuesday. The bank said over 3,000 employees are joining the effort to restore agricultural structures damaged by torrential rain. / Courtesy of NongHyup Bank

Aug 12, 2020By Anna J. Park
Helping hands amid torrential rain

Debate heats up again over law governing Samsung Life

Samsung Life Insurance headquarters / YonhapSamsung Life pressured to sell stake in Samsung Electronics with proposed revisions that change book value accounting to market value standardBy Anna J. Park, Kim Bo-eunAttention is growing over whether Samsung Life Insurance will be cornered to sell Samsung Electronics stocks it possesses, as ruling party lawmakers' proposed revisions to related regulations appear likely to be passed at the National Assembly.The revisions to the current Insurance Business Act was proposed by the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) lawmakers, including Park Yong-jin and Lee Yong-woo in June 16 and June 18, respectively. Their bill states that an insurer's asset prices should be calculated according to market value and not book value, when calculating the cap of the firm's total capital assets such as stocks and bonds. This is not the first time such revisions have been proposed ― they were first proposed during the 19th Assembly back in 2016, and again submitted during the 20th Assembly, yet opposition barred progress from being made. Rep. Park said the

Aug 11, 2020By Kim Bo-eun
Debate heats up again over law governing Samsung Life

Rupture of Eastar Jet deal hits credit card issuers

KB Kookmin Card CEO Lee Dong-cheol, left, and Samsung Card CEO Kim Dae-hwan. / Courtesy of each companyBy Park Jae-hyukCredit card issuers have fallen unexpected victims to the collapse of the Eastar Jet takeover deal, as they are unlikely to get around 10 billion won ($8.4 million) back from the cash-strapped low-cost carrier, according to industry officials, Tuesday.After a massive cancellation of flights due to the COVID-19 pandemic, card firms have refunded customers whose flights were cancelled, on behalf of liquidity-crunched airlines which had asked card firms in March to allow a grace period. Back then, officials discussed the matter at the Credit Finance Association headquarters in Seoul.Other air carriers, including full-service carriers like Korean Air and Asiana Airlines, have repaid card firms since April, but Eastar Jet could not do this due to its severe financial difficulties. Card firms had therefore sought to receive payment later from Jeju Air which signed a deal with Eastar Holdings in March to acquire a controlling 51.17 percent stake in Eastar Jet for 54.5 billi

Aug 11, 2020By Park Jae-hyuk
Rupture of Eastar Jet deal hits credit card issuers

KB, Shinhan speeding up 'data partnership'

Financial Services Commission Vice Chairman Sohn Byung-doo delivers an opening speech during a MyData forum in Seoul on June 29. YonhapBy Lee Min-hyungKB and Shinhan are speeding up their drive to clinch more partnerships with non-banking players to obtain massive datasets, in their bid to take the lead in the data-driven financial paradigm shift. The moves come ahead of the introduction of the government-driven “MyData” project under which financial firms will share personal information of their customers to a third-party MyData business operator. This will allow users to access scattered financial information from a single platform.About 60 financial firms here ― including the aforementioned two along with their subsidiaries ― submitted preliminary applications for licenses to join the project to the Financial Supervisory Service last week. The regulator will name the first 20 firms to receive the license as early as October.Major affiliates of the two leading financial holding firms are on track to expand their presence in data management by signing partnerships with e

Aug 10, 2020By Lee Min-hyung
KB, Shinhan speeding up 'data partnership'
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