Business - The Korea Times

Hyundai Card, MoMA's longtime partnership promotes K-art

Artist Yang Hae-gue, right, stands beside “Sonic Coupe Copper ― Enclosed Unity,” which will be displayed at New York's Museum of Modern Art that reopens Oct. 21. Hyundai Card said it will sponsor her first solo exhibition at the world's leading contemporary art museum. / Courtesy of YangBy Park Jae-hyukHyundai Card's 14-year partnership with the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), which has enabled Korean artists to introduce themselves to the world, has come into the limelight again lately, ahead of the reopening of the world's leading contemporary art museum in New York, Oct. 21.According to the card firm, Thursday, MoMA will come up with a media performance program, the “Hyundai Card Performance Series,” when it finishes renovations that started June 15.The card issuing unit of Hyundai Motor Group, which will sponsor the program exclusively, will present various art projects including performances, music, sound and moving images at the Marie-Josee and Henry Kravis Studio to be placed at the center of the new MoMA.In addition, Hyundai Card will sponsor artist Yang

Sep 29, 2019

Hyundai Card, MoMA's longtime partnership promotes K-art

INTERVIEW 'Korea to be first mover in deviceless payment'

Ryoo Tae-hyun, director of Shinhan Card's digital first division / Courtesy of Shinhan CardShinhan Card seeks to take initiative in facial payment, blockchainBy Park Jae-hyukKorea will evolve from a country known for high credit card use into a first mover in “deviceless” payment systems, according to the nation's leading card firm's executive in charge of its digital transformation strategy.Ryoo Tae-hyun, director of Shinhan Card's digital first division, told The Korea Times that the era of plastic-free and deviceless payments will be available here within a few years.“The senior vice president of Visa, who directs the firm's innovation, came to Korea before the Chuseok holiday and told me that he expects Korea will lead the new payment system before the United States or China,” he said.“Digital payments already account for 16.5 percent of the way our customers make payments. The figure has jumped from 12 percent two years ago.”According to the director, Shinhan Card is taking the initiative in several futuristic payment systems ― facial recognit

Sep 29, 2019By Park Jae-hyuk

[INTERVIEW] 'Korea to be first mover in deviceless payment'

Workshop for overseas staff

NongHyup Financial Group Chairman Kim Gwang-soo, front row eighth from left, holds hands with employees from NongHyup's branches abroad during a workshop for overseas staff at the group's headquarters in Seoul, Thursday. NongHyup said 34 overseas workers visited Korea from Monday to Saturday, to learn about the group's global business strategies. / Courtesy of NongHyup Financial Group

Sep 29, 2019By Park Jae-hyuk

Sales of high-risk derivatives nearly double over 2 years

By Lee Kyung-min The sales of high-risk derivative financial products have nearly doubled over the past two years, fueling concerns that a far greater number of investors will see their losses snowball in the months to come, data showed Friday. According to data submitted to Rep. Je Youn-kyung of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea from the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), 16 commercial banks sold over a combined 1 million such products worth 49.8 trillion won ($41.4 billion) as of August, nearly double the 2017 figure when it sold 664,310 products worth 30.7 trillion won. The products in question including derivative-linked funds (DLF) are structured to track the performance of underlying assets such as interest rates and government-issued bond yields. Their returns are determined by the movements of those assets. Other products such as equity-linked securities and derivative-linked securities can be combined and sold in the form of equity-linked trust or derivative-linked trusts. They can also be sold in the form of equity-linked funds or derivative-linked funds. Over a third,

Sep 27, 2019By Lee Kyung-min

Sales of high-risk derivatives nearly double over 2 years

KB Financial chief stresses customer satisfaction on 11th anniversary

KB Financial Group Chairman Yoon Jong-kyoo, fifth from left, poses with employees during the group's 11th anniversary at the firm's headquarters on Yeouido, Seoul, Friday. / Courtesy of KB Financial Group KB Financial Group Chairman Yoon Jong-kyoo stressed the importance of customer satisfaction during the group's 11th anniversary event.During his keynote speech, Yoon called for employees to embody the group's motto of “finance that changes world” while emphasizing customer satisfaction.“We should understand customers' pain points and do our best to solve them,” he said during the group's in-house event celebrating its 11th anniversary at the KB Financial headquarters on Yeouido in Seoul, Friday.“KB will innovate itself to offer the best customer service across its entire business operations. Even a small service quality gap could bring about a big difference. We should continuously innovate ourselves to offer differentiated services.”He added KB Financial Group wil

Sep 27, 2019By Jhoo Dong-chan

KB Financial chief stresses customer satisfaction on 11th anniversary

KDB seeks to acquire Indonesia's Tifa Finance

Korea Development Bank Chairman Lee Dong-gullBy Jhoo Dong-chanThe state-run Korea Development Bank (KDB) is seeking to acquire Indonesia's PT Tifa Finance, sources said Thursday.The bank has looked for opportunities to diversify its portfolio in the Southeast Asia region for months, targeting financial companies that have a license to offer a range of services from leasing and consumer financing to credit card financing.This is also part of KDB's efforts to look beyond Korea's crowded financial market where commercial and policy banks are facing difficulties in generating positive cash flow amid low interest rates.According to multiple sources and media reports, the KDB is conducting due diligence to acquire the country's PT Tifa Finance.Established in 1989, PT Tifa Finance is located in Jakarta and offers a wide range of financial services, including leasing and consumer financing. With total assets of about 140 billion won ($116.8 million), the firm posted a 2.4 billion won net profit last year.It is expected to cost about 10 billion won to acquire the firm's management rights.Howe

Sep 26, 2019By Jhoo Dong-chan

KDB seeks to acquire Indonesia's Tifa Finance

KB chairman to visit Europe, North America for IR

KB Financial Group Chairman Yoon Jong-kyooBy Jhoo Dong-chanKB Financial Group Chairman Yoon Jong-kyoo, who left for investor roadshows in Hong Kong and Australia in April, is set to visit Europe and North America to meet and attract potential institutional investors in October and November, the financial group said.According to KB Financial Group, Yoon will visit the U.K. and Norway to meet major institutional investors including pension funds and Norges Bank in October. Yoon plans to continue his overseas roadshows in Canada and the U.S. in November. A series of Yoon's overseas IR tours also aim to boost the financial group's share prices.KB Financial Group enjoyed a series of record high quarterly earnings over the past year, but their share prices have remained sluggish due to the foreign selloff caused by a series of skeptic outlooks on their future earnings.Share prices of KB Financial Group fell more than 10 percent over the past year because of various negative external factors such as the Sino-America trade row, slowdown in Korea's growth and the country's low interest rate t

Sep 26, 2019By Jhoo Dong-chan

KB chairman to visit Europe, North America for IR

Citibank's diversification strategy shines amid downturn

A Citibank Korea employee discusses wealth management with a customer in this file photo. / Courtesy of CitibankCitibank Korea's wealth management strategy, which centers on diversifying investments, has gained attention as it has generated stable returns for investors despite lingering uncertainties caused by the U.S.-China trade war and Korea's trade feud with Japan.Since 2015, the bank has stressed the importance of asset allocation and currency diversification based on a Citi Model Portfolio built for each customer's risk profile, offered by the Global Investment Committee. This strategy has resulted in remarkable performance since the latter half of 2018, when the stock market began to slow with market uncertainty increasing.The bank's moderate-type Citi Model Portfolio and aggressive-type Citi Model Portfolio recorded 7.0 percent and 8.1 percent rates of return respectively for the year.The two portfolios have performed relatively well while most stock markets have posted a significant level of negative returns over the past year.“Citi's Model Portfolio's return on revenu

Sep 25, 2019

Citibank's diversification strategy shines amid downturn

IBK supports fintech startups

Industrial Bank of Korea (IBK) CEO Kim Do-jin, fourth from right, Financial Services Commission (FSC) Vice Chairman Sohn Byung-doo, fifth from right, and Fintech Center Korea Chairman Jung Yoo-shin, right, applaud at the opening ceremony of the IBK 1st Lab at the IBK Finance Tower in Seoul, Wednesday. After opening the space for fintech startups, the IBK said it will invest 50 billion won ($41 million) in fintech firms over the next three years. / Courtesy of FSC

Sep 25, 2019By Park Jae-hyuk

Kakao's cryptocurrency listed on Upbit Indonesia

By Kim Bo-eunCaptured from Klaytn's Facebook pageKakao's cryptocurrency Klay will be listed on the Upbit Indonesia exchange Thursday, the IT giant said Wednesday.The cryptocurrency is also set to be listed on Upbit Singapore, but Kakao said it could not specify the date.Last year, Kakao's blockchain subsidiary Ground X developed its public blockchain platform Klaytn."We decided to list Klay on cryptocurrency exchanges in the respective countries, as we aim for Klaytn to become an Asia-based platform," a Kakao official said.Ground X, established in 2018, has partnered with conglomerates including Samsung Electronics for its platform Klaytn.The collaboration produced various blockchain applications and a wallet containing the cryptocurrency, Klay, for Samsung phones.Other partners of Ground X are affiliates of LG Group including its electronics and telecommunications units and Hanwha Group, as well as biopharmaceutical firm Celltrion and major game companies.

Sep 25, 2019By Kim Bo-eun

Banking & Finance