my timesThe Korea Times
BusinessBanking & Finance

Banking & Finance

Korea Times
About Us
Introduction
History
Contact Us
Products & Services
Subscribe
E-paper
RSS Service
Content Sales
Site Map
Policy
Code of Ethics
Ombudsman
Privacy Policy
Youth Protection Policy
Terms of Service
Copyright Policy
Family Site
Hankookilbo
Dongwha Group
FacebookXYoutubeInstagram
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.

Eximbank CEO in hot seat for labor-leaning stance

Export-Import Bank of Korea CEO Bang Moon-kyu / YonhapBy Park Jae-hyukThe chief of the Export-Import Bank of Korea (Eximbank) has come under sharp criticism for his plan to introduce a codetermination system in a bid to appease the bank's union, according to critics Friday.In a codetermination system, seats on a board of directors are given to employees or their representatives.The state-run bank said it has been in discussion with its union about offering one of the board seats to an expert recommended by the union.“Because the Korean Financial Industry Union raised this issue two years ago, we have discussed this with our union,” an Eximbank spokesman said. “We are considering nominating an expert recommended by the union for our new nonexecutive director.”A codetermination system has never been carried out in the nation's financial industry.Although the unions of Industrial Bank of Korea (IBK) and KB Kookmin Bank had pursued the shared governance structure, their attempts ended in failure due to severe backlash.In March, then Financial Services Commission C

Dec 27, 2019By Park Jae-hyuk
Eximbank CEO in hot seat for labor-leaning stance
  • Militant union rises as another threat to banks

KB Kookmin Bank accelerates expansion in Southeast Asia

KB Kookmin Bank CEO Hur Yin / Courtesy of KB Kookmin BankBy Kim Bo-eunKB Kookmin Bank has begun its drive to expand in Southeast Asia, the top priority of CEO Hur Yin who started his second term in November.As the first of such efforts, the lender approved a plan Thursday to acquire Cambodia's No. 1 microfinance deposit-taking institution Prasac Microfinance. The bank will take 70 percent of the institution's shares for 702 billion won ($603 million).Kookmin has been considered a latecomer in terms of global expansion, with the fewest overseas outlets among the four major banks. It has subsidiaries in China, Cambodia and Myanmar.However, Hur has placed overseas expansion at the center of the bank's strategy for his second year. The plan for the acquisition was unveiled after the CEO visited Cambodia, China and Hong Kong earlier this month ― his first overseas trip marking his second term.Expansion into fast-growing Southeast Asian markets is becoming crucial as banks face declining profits amid low interest rates here.Prasac's scale of loans is third-largest among financial firms in

Dec 27, 2019By Kim Bo-eun
KB Kookmin Bank accelerates expansion in Southeast Asia

6 in 10 unretired people earn less than W2 mil.

By Lee Min-hyungSix in 10 unretired people receive a monthly salary of less than 2 million won ($1,718), according to data.The survey, released by Statistics Korea, showed that about 62.5 percent of wage workers aged between 40 and 64, who got new jobs less than a year after they retired from their previous workplaces, made less than that amount. The figure was based on data as of October last year.Those who earned between 1 million won and 2 million won accounted for 50.9 percent of the 819,000 surveyed workers. They took up the largest portion of unretired people's income level.The monthly income level of between 2 million won and 3 million won came in second, with 22.7 percent of the unretired wage laborers belonging to the category, according to data.Only less than four percent of them made more than 5 million won, indicating income polarization among the unretired still exists.Data also showed that the older the workers are, the less money they make. By age groups, those in their early 40s made a monthly average salary of 2.3 million won. Those in their early 50s made slightly l

Dec 26, 2019By Lee Min-hyung
6 in 10 unretired people earn less than W2 mil.

Kyobo Life to foster promising athletes

Kyobo Life Chief Operating Officer Yun Your-hyun, front row right, raise his fist with recipients of the firm's scholarship at the Korea Press Foundation, Dec. 26. Courtesy of Kyobo LifeBy Lee Kyung-min Fourteen student athletes were chosen as recipients of a sports scholarship offered by Kyobo Life, Korea's third-largest life insurer said Thursday. The scholarship, organized by the firm and the KYOBO Foundation for Education, seeks to help talented young people with moral, physical and intellectual development in an education initiative designed to nurture sports leaders in the country.Two sixth graders from seven sports ― sprint, speed skating, swimming, gymnastics, judo, tennis and table tennis ― will be eligible to receive 12 million won ($10,300) each for the next six years. Additional grants will be given to them if they win international sports competitions representing Korea over the next six years. “The students chosen were recognized for excellence not only in their respective field of sports but also in overall moral character, scholastic achievement and growth poten

Dec 26, 2019By Lee Kyung-min
Kyobo Life to foster promising athletes

Support for multiracial families

Daishin Financial Group Chairmwoman Lee Auh-ryung, third from left, poses with officials and aid recipients after donating funds at a center assisting multiracial families in Naju, South Jeolla Province, Thursday. / Courtesy of Daishin Securities

Dec 26, 2019By Kim Bo-eun
Support for multiracial families

Lenders reducing workforce amid digital transformation

By Lee Min-hyung Woori Bank and KEB Hana Bank are encouraging employees in their 50s to consider voluntary retirement, as the rise of digital banking and shift away from face-to-face transactions reduce personnel demands, according to the banks and industry officials.The two banks are two of the nation's top five lenders. The major lenders, however, were not free from the banking paradigm shift represented by mobile banking.For six days from Dec. 13, Woori Bank received voluntary retirement applications from employees born in 1964 and 1965. For those born in 1964, the bank offered a special severance pay equal to 30 months of their average monthly salary.To encourage more employees to join the program, the bank also proposed to provide the target age group with medical check-ups and travel packages.Hana also ran a similar program for the same age group. If employees born in 1964 apply, the lender offered to provide them with a special salary on par with 22 months of their average monthly income.The lenders did

Dec 26, 2019By Lee Min-hyung
Lenders reducing workforce amid digital transformation

For a warmer winter

Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) Governor Yoon Suk-heun, fourth from left, poses with Salvation Army Korea Commander Kim Pil-soo, fifth from left, and chiefs of banks after the FSS and financial firms donated funds to the charity organization, at the organization's headquarters in central Seoul, Thursday. / Yonhap

Dec 26, 2019By Kim Bo-eun

Boosting morale

NongHyup Bank CEO Lee Dae-hoon, seventh from left, poses with officials from the bank and the military at the 1st Infantry Division in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, Dec. 24. Lee visited them to boost morale. Courtesy of NongHyup Bank

Dec 25, 2019By Lee Kyung-min
Boosting morale

Banks bolster benefits for single workers

gettyimagesbankBy Lee Kyung-min Banks are introducing various employment benefits for single workers, a growing number of whom are demanding equal treatment as their married peers, industry sources said Wednesday.Citibank Korea is considering changing its health benefit policy under which workers and only their spouses are eligible to take a yearly physical paid by the firm. Workers there demand that they choose one person that is not their spouse, claiming it could be one of their parents for whom the regular physical would be a substantial out-of-pocket payment without the firm's coverage ― around 600,000 won ($515). The workers' demand was forwarded to the management after an increasing number of workers said the current employment benefits are designed to discriminate against single workers. “Many workers are single and they may not have plans to get married any time soon, so they may find the current system discriminatory given most of the benefits are designed to support married workers,” a Citibank Korea official said. The demand from Citibank has already been acce

Dec 25, 2019By Lee Kyung-min
Banks bolster benefits for single workers

Banks compete for overseas remittance biz

gettyimagesbankBy Lee Kyung-min Banks are leading an intensive marketing campaign to take the upper hand in the overseas remittance business, the market share of which is increasingly encroached upon by new competitors such as card and insurance firms, industry officials said Wednesday. The move comes amid an increase in overseas remittance volume over the past few years. It jumped to $13.4 billion (15 trillion won) in 2018, up 54 percent from $8.7 billion in 2015.State lender Industrial Bank of Korea (IBK) began an event whereby Chinese customers will be given red envelopes or a red packet, customarily given to loved ones during holidays or on special occasions in China.The event will be held at over 100 branches nationwide in areas with high Chinese presence such as Ansan, Sihwa and Seoul's Itaewon.Another ongoing event that runs until December 2020 saves foreign workers 2,000 won in remittance service fees for amounts over $500 wired to overseas accounts. The fee will be reduced for up to five transactions for customers who send money via ATMs or online and cellphone banking platf

Dec 25, 2019By Lee Kyung-min
Banks compete for overseas remittance biz
previous page
420421422423424
next page

Most Read in Business