Business - The Korea Times

KakaoPay CEO urged to globalize Korean fintech

Ryu Young-joon, the KakaoPay CEO and the Korea Fintech Industry Association chairman / Courtesy of KakaoBy Park Jae-hyukKakaoPay CEO Ryu Young-joon, who will lead the nation's largest fintech lobby group over the next two years, is facing growing calls to focus on helping Korean fintech firms go global.The head of Kakao's mobile payment subsidiary was elected as the Korea Fintech Industry Association (KORFIN) chairman, March 10, defeating DAYLI Financial Group CEO Shin Seung-hyun.KORFIN was organized in 2016 to make the nation's fintech industry more globalized and to call for financial authorities to ease regulations on fintech firms.The new chairman vowed to make the association serve as a think tank, so that it can influence government policies on the fintech industry.“By communicating more with our members and improving the association's capability, I will help the fintech industry play a leading role in Korea's financial innovation,” he said after winning the election.Since regulators began to prioritize financial innovation, KORFIN, comprised of more than 300 member

Mar 25, 2020By Park Jae-hyuk

KakaoPay CEO urged to globalize Korean fintech

Woori Bank's new chief vows organizational overhaul

By Kim Bo-eunKwon Kwang-seokWoori Bank appointed Kwon Kwang-seok as its CEO at the bank's shareholder meeting held Tuesday.Kwon pledged to overhaul the bank's organization to restore customer trust, after Woori suffered major damage in reputation last year based on its mis-selling of investment options referred to as derivative-linked funds (DLF)."Woori Bank is in a crisis due to the DLF case and the COVID-19 pandemic," Kwon said in a statement. The bank said the CEO was appointed without an inauguration ceremony as part of quarantine efforts against the coronavirus."A reorganization of the bank will be conducted swiftly and we will prepare extensively for forthcoming changes and risks," he said.The CEO also stated Woori will change the culture within the bank that has prioritized sales achievements, so that it becomes more customer centered."We will level-headedly look back on the events that have occurred and examine the bank's system from zero base for improvement, pushing forward with fundamental innovation that prioritizes customers."As his first schedule, Kwon examined the bank

Mar 24, 2020By Kim Bo-eun

Woori Bank's new chief vows organizational overhaul

Citibank Korea spearheads culture of gender-equality and work-life balance

Citibank Korea CEO Park Jin-hei / Courtesy of Citibank KoreaCitibank Korea boasts an excellent corporate culture that puts an emphasis on gender equality and work-life balance. Currently, the Korea franchise of the global financial institution Citigroup has six female executive officers accounting for 46 percent of the total 13 executive directors, which gives the bank one of the highest gender ratios for executives in the local market.Behind such an impressive gender equality practice is the bank's numerous internal programs and organizations, such as the Diversity Committee and the Women's Council that have been operating since 2006. The Women's Council has been engaged in a variety of activities such as lectures and networking functions to support female workers and to reinforce their capabilities. In January, Citibank Korea also became the first company in the nation to provide four weeks of paid paternity leave to an employee whose spouse gave birth, regardless of the number of children. Work-life balance is another pillar of the firm's key goals. Back in 2017, the bank introduc

Mar 24, 2020

Citibank Korea spearheads culture of gender-equality and work-life balance

Eximbank issues commercial papers worth $1 billion

The headquarters of the Export-Import Bank of Korea in Seoul / YonhapBy Lee Min-hyungThe Export-Import Bank of Korea (Eximbank) has raised a total of $1.02 billion (1.28 trillion won) by issuing foreign currency-denominated commercial papers in order to provide local firms with easier access to foreign currencies, the state-run lender said Tuesday.The bank said it issued short-term unsecured promissory notes mostly to institutional investors in Europe amid widening market volatility here in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.The move comes as part of its efforts to minimize financial turmoil caused by the substantial plunge in valuations of Korean stocks and currency amid fears that the virus-hit economy will fall into a recession in the near future.With the local economy showing few signs of a rebound, foreign investors have recently gone on a mass selling spree. This has raised concern over a dollar shortage here. The lender believes its latest decision will help reduce such worries.“Even if the novel coronavirus outbreak deepens uncertainty and volatility in the local fina

Mar 24, 2020By Lee Min-hyung

Eximbank issues commercial papers worth $1 billion

More people canceling insurance policies

gettyimagesbankBy Kim Bo-eunA working mom, surnamed Kim, is seriously mulling cancelling an insurance policy she signed up for her and her daughter last year due to the stock market crash in recent weeks caused by the novel coronavirus pandemic.Kim, 40, signed up for a variable life insurance policy that invests 100 percent in U.S. stocks. “The plunge in U.S. stocks is resulting in major negative returns. Considering my income may be affected in coming months, I am thinking about possibly cancelling the policy.”Such concerns have led to insurers seeing more cancellations on policies amid the coronavirus pandemic.According to an official of a life insurer, Friday, the firm saw an increase in the number of cancellations in the past month after the coronavirus crisis began escalating."The number of cancellations has grown slightly," the official said. "They have mainly been cancellations of savings-type policies. This is seen as a move by policyholders to transfer their funds into more profitable investment options."The number of inquiries about variable life insurance polic

Mar 24, 2020By Kim Bo-eun

More people canceling insurance policies

INTERVIEW Wealth management drives Citi Korea's growth in digital era

Citibank Korea's Director at Retail Banking Division Kim Ji-kang / Korea Times photo by Choi Won-sukUS bank lowers equity allocation amid market turbulenceBy Anna J. Park Citibank Korea has been focusing on providing innovative digital banking and differentiated wealth management strategies to clients since it started streamlining operations by closing about 80 percent of its regional branches in 2017. Currently, the bank operates eight Wealth Management Centers ― four in Seoul, one in Bundang, and the rest in provincial locations, providing various model portfolios and effective team-based advice to clients.The wealth management centers have shown resilient growth in the number of new clients, investment and deposit volumes over the past couple of years. In addition, the bank's medium-risk Moderate Model Portfolio produced a 17 percent return, while the high-risk Aggressive Model Portfolio posted a 20 percent return in 2019. During a recent interview, head of the Retail Banking Division Kim Ji-kang discussed the factors that led to the lender's success and impressive wealth manageme

Mar 24, 2020By Anna J. Park

[INTERVIEW] Wealth management drives Citi Korea's growth in digital era

Face masks for medical staff

Standard Chartered (SC) Bank Korea CEO Park Jong-bok, second from left, loads face masks into a vehicle at the bank's main branch in Seoul, Friday. The bank donated 5,000 masks it received from SC Group to medical staff in Daegu. / Courtesy of SC Bank Korea

Mar 23, 2020By Park Jae-hyuk

CEOs of Shinhan affiliates take charge of digital transformation

By Kim Bo-eun Shinhan Financial Group Chairman Cho Yong-byoung / Korea Times file Shinhan Financial Group said Monday it has introduced a system under which CEOs of affiliates will play a leading role in incorporating key technology into their digital transformation processes.Under the system, Shinhan Bank CEO Jin Ok-dong will be tasked to ensure that artificial intelligence (AI) is developed in the bank's digital transformation. The chiefs of Shinhan's card, brokerage and two insurance units will be responsible for seeing that big data, cloud computing, block chain technologies and health care capabilities are developed. Each core technology was matched according to relevance with the units' business.The CEOs will be tasked with coming up with new business models and collaboration projects, according to the group.Shinhan Financial Group Chairman Cho Yong-byoung brought up the idea at a management meeting held last week."Only 3 percent of companies seeking innovation

Mar 23, 2020By Kim Bo-eun

CEOs of Shinhan affiliates take charge of digital transformation

Special promotion by Woori Bank

A model poses for a Woori Bank promotional event that will offer special gifts to new subscribers to its housing subscription deposit account. The bank will select 510 customers who have signed up for the account, to receive gifts such as laptops, AirPods Pro and 'mobile' coffee coupons, the lender said Sunday. Courtesy of Woori Bank

Mar 22, 2020By Lee Min-hyung

Court accepts injunction request by Woori Financial head against reprimand

Son Tae-seungA Seoul court on Friday accepted an injunction request by the head of Woori Financial Group against the financial watchdog's reprimand over improper selling of derivatives-linked products that caused investors to incur massive losses.The Seoul Administrative Court's decision removed hurdles for Woori Chairman Son Tae-sung's bid to win approval for his second term during its general shareholders' meeting scheduled for next Wednesday.Son filed the request early this month seeking to suspend the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS)'s disciplinary action against him over the sale of the so-called derivatives-linked fund (DLF) products.The DLF products were designed to earn large amounts of money when the interest rates of major economies stayed above a certain level.Those products, however, turned into losers as bond yields in the U.S., Britain and Germany unexpectedly sunk amid speculation that central banks in major economies might aggressively cut their interest rates.The FSS claimed it is possible to hold a CEO responsible for mishandling with regard to selling such finan

Mar 20, 2020By Kim Bo-eun

Banking & Finance