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Korean Re sues KB Securities over Aussie investment fraud

Korean Reinsurance Company CEO Won Jong-gyu, left, and KB Securities CEO Park Jeong-rim / Korea Times fileBy Park Jae-hyukKorean Reinsurance Company (Korean Re) has gone all out to avoid a loss from its investment in the JB Australia NDIS Fund, which has been involved with real estate investment fraud in Australia, due to a local borrower's breach of contract there.According to an industry source, Monday, the Seoul-based reinsurance company had claimed damages Dec. 4 against KB Securities, the private equity fund's seller, and JB Asset Management, the fund's manager.The Korea Federation of Community Credit Cooperative and the National Forestry Cooperative Federation, both of which are also among institutional investors that invested in the fund, joined the lawsuit to get compensation.Korean Re had also referred KB Securities and JB Asset Management to the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office, the source said.JB Australia NDIS Fund was initially set up with an intention of investments in businesses related to the Australian government's housing policy for the disabled.KB Securi

Dec 31, 2019By Park Jae-hyuk
Korean Re sues KB Securities over Aussie investment fraud

Shinhan enhancing digitization, asset management

Shinhan DS CEO Sunny YiBy Park Jae-hyukShinhan Financial Group's recent reshuffle of its top executives has indicated the banking group will reinforce its digital and asset management sectors in 2020 to look for future growth engines, according to industry officials, Monday.The group's board of directors recently recommended Future Strategy Research Institute head Sunny Yi as the Shinhan DS CEO and Korea Investment Corporation (KIC) investment adviser as a Shinhan BNP Paribas Asset Management vice president.They are known as specialists in digital strategy and capital markets, respectively.Yi, who managed Accion as the consulting firm's founder before joining Shinhan in January 2019, served as the regional head of Bain & Company and AT Kearney.Shinhan said he will lead the financial group's IT service unit to upgrade the group's digital competitiveness.Park was in charge of mortgage-backed securities (MBS) trading at J.P. Morgan Securities and served as the desk head of the Societe Generale's New York branch.“Park is the top-level expert in global bond management, who had w

Dec 31, 2019By Park Jae-hyuk
Shinhan enhancing digitization, asset management

Lime Asset embroiled in US Ponzi scheme

Lime Asset Management's headquarters at the IFC on Yeouido, Seoul / captured from Lime Asset Management's websiteBy Kim Bo-eunLime Asset Management will likely face an investigation over suspicions that it continued to sell fund options to investors despite allegedly being aware of the fact that the options invested in involved a U.S. hedge fund that engaged in fraud.The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Nov. 26 revoked registration of the New York-based investment adviser International Investment Group (IIG) that managed the troubled hedge fund, stating it engaged in Ponzi schemes. A Ponzi scheme refers to a fraudulent investment operation that generates returns for older investors by acquiring new investors.IIG was charged with concealing defaulted loans in its hedge fund and selling at least $60 million in fake loan assets to other clients. The SEC imposed an asset freeze on IIG.Lime, the country's largest hedge fund, had drawn up a trade finance fund amounting to 600 billion won, with funds from clients worth 243.6 billion won and loans from Shinhan Investment

Dec 30, 2019By Kim Bo-eun

Woori chairman Son to serve another term

By Lee Min-hyung Woori Financial Group Chairman Son Tae-seung Woori Financial Group has decided to recommend incumbent leader Son Tae-seung as the sole candidate for the group's next chairman, the group's CEO recommendation committee said Monday.Son has served as the Woori chairman since December 2018, and his term expires at the end of March 2020.The committee said the decision came in recognition of Son's strong leadership under which the group and its affiliates succeeded in generating record earnings in 2019.“A swift leadership appointment was necessary to clear away management uncertainty, as his tenure nears an end,” Chang Dong-woo, head of the committee, said.“Members of the committee reached a consensus over the decision and recommended him for the position once again to the board of directors,” he said. He will extend his chairmanship upon receiving approval from the regular shareholders' meeting slated for next March.Son has taken on a dual role as the leade

Dec 30, 2019By Lee Min-hyung
Woori chairman Son to serve another term

Hyundai Card emerges as innovation hub for startups

Participants of Hyundai Card's third demo day for startups pose at the event held at the card firm's headquarters on Yeouido, Seoul, Dec. 18. / Courtesy of Hyundai CardBy Kim Bo-eunHyundai Card is fostering promising startups by providing its co-working space Studio Black and various other programs.The card firm held a demo day event for startups using its co-working space on Dec. 18, where the startups had an opportunity to introduce their businesses to Hyundai Card as well as mingle with other startup founders.Ten startups using Studio Black as well as other startups and venture capital firms took part in the event. Among the startups that attended was 2Luck, which operates an online-based delivery platform in Vietnam.This was the third demo day held since Hyundai Card opened Studio Black in January 2017. The event is intended to help startups find business partners and secure investments.Hyundai Card has been seeking to provide assistance to startups through various benefits and programs. Startups accessing Studio Black get the same benefits as Hyundai Card employees in card

Dec 30, 2019By Kim Bo-eun

Union petitions for Shinhan chairman

Shinhan Financial Group Chairman Cho Yong-byoung appears in the Seoul Eastern District Court as he awaits the court's decision on the prosecutors' arrest warrant in this October 2018 file photo. / YonhapBy Park Jae-hyukShinhan Bank's union filed a petition with the Seoul Eastern District Court to call for generosity toward Shinhan Financial Group Chairman Cho Yong-byoung, who is facing a sentencing hearing on charges of hiring underqualified applicants, according to media reports, Monday.Local news outlet Newsis reported Shinhan Bank's union leader Kim Jin-hong claimed the chairman's innocence.“Chairman Cho made huge efforts for the welfare of employees when he was the Shinhan Bank CEO,” Kim was quoted as saying by Newsis. “I appreciate him for his efforts to improve the rights of female employees. I ask the court to take this into account.”A petition does not affect the court's judgment of conviction, but it can be taken into account when the court is determining punishment.Cho was indicted without detention in October 2018 on charges of manipulating scores o

Dec 30, 2019By Park Jae-hyuk

Five major banks to shut down 89 branches by early next year

By Lee Kyung-min Korea's top five banks plan to shut down a combined 89 branches nationwide by early next year amid fast-deteriorating profit coupled with digitization, industry officials said Thursday.Of the five, KB Kookmin plans to close 37, followed by KEB Hana closing 35. Shinhan and NongHyup will each shut down seven while Woori closes three. The number of their branches has been on a steep decline over the past few years.They had 5,093 in 2015, 4,726 in 2017 and 4,682 in 2019. This number will drop further to 4,593 in 2020.The move seeking efficiency is a notable turn from four years earlier when they increasingly opened branches in line with the shared notion that the number of branches spoke to the market capitalization. But a year after that, the banks came under growing pressure to streamline their corporate structures with dropping profit margins, when an industry-wide digitization initiative began to gain momentum. Yet they were not able to reduce the number of branches drastically due to the financial regulator's guidelines that put much emphasis on equal acce

Dec 29, 2019By Lee Kyung-min
Five major banks to shut down 89 branches by early next year

Militant union rises as another threat to banks

KB Kookmin Bank union leader Park Hong-bae chants during the proclamation ceremony of the bank's strike at Jamsil Students' Gymnasium in Seoul in this Jan. 8 file photo. He was elected as the new leader of the Korean Financial Industry Union. / YonhapBy Park Jae-hyukBanks have been alarmed at the emergence of militant union leaders, as they are set to demand a further wage hike amid worsening business conditions, according to industry officials, Thursday.On Tuesday, the Korean Financial Industry Union elected KB Kookmin Bank union leader Park Hong-bae as the new head of the umbrella union. Park will officially start his three-year term early next year.He has drawn public attention since last January when he led KB Kookmin Bank's first strike in 19 years.Back then, the union called for an unprecedented 300 percent incentive, while the management offered a 250 percent incentive, citing other banks.As Park was elected as the new leader of the umbrella union composed of individual bank unions nationwide, more lenders will likely face bigger pressure to increase their salaries.Park promis

Dec 27, 2019By Park Jae-hyuk
Militant union rises as another threat to banks
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