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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.

Helping virus-hit social ventures

Standard Chartered (SC) Bank Korea CEO Park Jong-bok, third from left, poses with officials from the Community Chest of Korea and Social Solidarity Bank after they signed an agreement to provide 600 million won ($487,000) in funds to social ventures afflicted by COVID-19, at the lender's headquarters in central Seoul, Wednesday. Courtesy of SC Bank Korea

May 21, 2020By Kim Bo-eun
Helping virus-hit social ventures

CEO Watch Samsung Life CEO put to test

By Kim Bo-eunJeon Young-mukSamsung Life Insurance's dive in net profit in the first quarter of the year has put the new chief of the nation's largest life insurer to the test. The insurer posted 229.9 billion won for the first quarter, down 48.6 percent from 447.3 billion won in the same period last year.CEO Jeon Young-muk began his term in March, and while he may be able to escape responsibility for the insurer's first quarter performance, he will face the burden of bringing up earnings in the next three months.The insurer's poor performance is attributed to the coronavirus-triggered stock market plunge in March, as the company holds a large percentage of stocks in its portfolio.Samsung's earnings are in contrast with those of other insurers, where new CEOs took the helm at a similar point in time as Jeon. Hana Life saw its earnings grow by 171.4 percent in the first quarter of the year, and Hanwha General Insurance switched to a surplus in the same period, with a 236.1 percent surge in net profit.Hana's performance was based on yields from alternative investments such as real estat

May 21, 2020By Kim Bo-eun
[CEO Watch] Samsung Life CEO put to test

Checking banks' loan program

Financial Supervisory Service Governor Yoon Suk-heun, right, speaks with a bank official at a Daegu Bank branch in the southeastern city, Wednesday. The regional bank is one of the lenders running an emergency loan program for small business owners afflicted by the COVID-19 crisis. / Yonhap

May 20, 2020By Kim Bo-eun
Checking banks' loan program

Wealth management drives foreign banks' earnings

By Kim Bo-eunForeign banks posted solid earnings here in the first quarter of this year, in contrast with local banks that saw their earnings fall. The performance of foreign banks is attributed to their wealth management divisions, which continue to see growth in customers and assets under management.Standard Chartered (SC) Bank Korea posted 93.8 billion won in net profit for the first quarter of this year, a 23.4 percent growth year-on-year, from 76 billion won in the same period of 2019.The bank said a number of factors contributed to the jump in earnings, including a growth in loan assets and reduction of costs, but that wealth management played a central role.The number of new customers for wealth management increased by 24 percent at the end of 2019, from the end of 2018. Assets under management grew 2 percent as of April, from the end of 2018. Foreign currency assets grew by 70 percent.The bank said the number of retail customers for wealth management services has grown based on differentiated overseas investment strategies and innovative services. SC Bank held web seminars th

May 19, 2020By Kim Bo-eun
Wealth management drives foreign banks' earnings

JB Financial Group accelerates digital transformation

By Kim Bo-eunJB Financial Group said Monday it will launch a team that will play a central role in the group's digital transformation.According to the North Jeolla-based provincial financial group, the team will be comprised of 15 lower-level employees from each of the group's affiliates, and will be tasked with strengthening JB's digital capabilities and promoting a digital culture.The team will study digital technologies including artificial intelligence and blockchain, and incorporate these in developing digital products and services.The team will also plan digital events and take part in competitions, the group said.JB said members will be recognized for outstanding ideas with rewards from the CEO. "We plan on achieving two goals through the launch of the digital team ― spreading a company-wide digital culture and fostering the talents of digital experts," said Park Jong-choon, heading JB Financial's digital transformation division.

May 18, 2020By Kim Bo-eun
JB Financial Group accelerates digital transformation

Lotte Card runs smoothly after MBK's takeover

The new headquarters building of Lotte Card near Gwanghwamun in Seoul / Courtesy of Lotte CardBy Park Jae-hyukLotte Card has seen a sharp increase in its earnings since MBK Partners took control of the firm in November.According to the company's regulatory filing, Monday, its first-quarter earnings rose 69 percent year-on-year to 50.9 billion won ($41.3 million).As of the end of March, its net assets reached 13.7 trillion won, up 60.8 billion won from the end of last year. It posted 58.1 billion won in operating profit during the first quarter, a 51 percent increase from a year earlier.“Our first-quarter earnings increased as we sold more bonds than in the previous year,” a Lotte Card official said. “Although the credit card fee reduction has had a negative impact on our profitability, we've offset losses with various cost-effective business strategies.”The credit card issuer is also accelerating efforts to improve corporate culture.It recently moved its head office to the Concordian building near Gwanghwamun Station, which was the former headquarters building

May 18, 2020By Park Jae-hyuk
Lotte Card runs smoothly after MBK's takeover

AIA Korea undergoes organizational overhaul

By Kim Bo-eunAIA Korea CEO Peter ChungAIA Korea has conducted an organizational overhaul in an effort to promote a more horizontal culture under the leadership of the new CEO Peter Chung.Chung began his term as chief of the Korean unit of the Pan-Asian insurance group in January.Among the first actions he took as CEO was the reorganization of the unit."He wanted to break down silos and make the existing rigid organization culture more horizontal," a company official said. The term silos refers to isolation of divisions and employees within an organization due to unwillingness or absence of channels of effective communication and information sharing.Under Chung, many divisions were integrated to make them multifunctional."The changes were made so that various functions would be interlinked with one another," the official explained.The CEO has also stressed the need for better communication, and has allocated time to take a coffee break with employees every week.Chung meets with five employees at a time, to hear their thoughts."The coffee breaks are immensely popular among employees ―

May 18, 2020By Kim Bo-eun
AIA Korea undergoes organizational overhaul

Tmoney suffers snowballing losses in Mongolia

A Mongolian passenger pays the bus fare in Ulaanbaatar using U-money, the public transportation payment system Tmoney exported to the country, in this file photo. / Courtesy of Ulaanbaatar Smart CardBy Park Jae-hyukTmoney is facing mounting losses from its business in Mongolia which it began ambitiously in 2015, the public transportation payment service provider's regulatory filing showed Friday.Ulaanbaatar Smart Card, the Mongolian subsidiary of Tmoney, suffered a 1.79 billion won ($1.4 million) loss in 2019, following a 1.82 billion won loss the previous year. Its accumulated loss over the past five years reached 9.2 billion won.Tmoney transplanted Seoul's public transportation payment system to Mongolia, a year after it declared the “Vision 2020” plan in 2014 to overcome difficulties from the saturated domestic market. Back then, the company expected to make a 100 billion won profit from Mongolia over the following 10 years.The landlocked East Asian country, however, underwent a three-year bailout program from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 2017, due to an ec

May 18, 2020By Park Jae-hyuk
Tmoney suffers snowballing losses in Mongolia

Woori chief underlines post-virus digital innovation

Woori Financial Group Chairman Son Tae-seung, center in the rear row, poses with executives and young employees while celebrating the establishment of a “digital innovation committee,” at its headquarters in Seoul, Friday. Courtesy of Woori Financial Group By Lee Min-hyungWoori Financial Group has established what it calls a “digital innovation committee,” in its bid to place a digital drive at the center of the post-virus management strategy, the company said Sunday.Announcing its digital vision of “Digital for Better Life,” the financial holding company formed the digital control tower co-headed by Woori Financial Group Chairman Son Tae-seung and Woori Bank Kwon Kwong-seok on Friday.“The rise of the contactless trend has become the new normal after the COVID-19 pandemic,” Son said. “Now is the golden time for digital innovation.”The Woori chief also presented “Digital First, Change Everything” as the group's new management slogan for the post-coronavirus world.The

May 17, 2020By Lee Min-hyung
Woori chief underlines post-virus digital innovation

Samsung Asset Management embroiled in suits with ETF investors

By Kim Bo-eungettyimagesbankSamsung Asset Management is embroiled in lawsuits with investors of its West Texas Intermediate (WTI) exchange-traded fund (ETF), over the investment firm's changes in the composition of the fund which investors state have caused them losses.A group of 220 investors of Samsung's KODEX WTI ETF filed a compensation suit against the asset managing firm, Thursday. This comes after two investors filed a suit with the Seoul Central Court on the same grounds on April 27. Investors filed the suit based on the firm changing the composition of WTI futures on April 22 without first notifying investors. The ETF formerly held 73 percent in WTI futures for June, but the investment firm changed this to 34 percent, by dispersing the holding to July (19 percent), August (19 percent) and September (9 percent). Samsung explained it took the measure in response to a drop in prices for WTI futures for June.The investment firm reported the change the following day, before markets opened. However, futures of the month of June spiked by 41.4 percent the day after the changes were

May 14, 2020By Kim Bo-eun
Samsung Asset Management embroiled in suits with ETF investors
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