Bank holding firms' capital ratio edges up in Q3

The average capital adequacy ratio (CAR) of South Korean bank holding companies edged up in the third quarter of this year from three months earlier on a rise in total equity capital, the financial watchdog said Sunday.

The average ratio of nine bank holding companies stood at 13.90 percent at the end of September, up 0.04 percentage point from the previous quarter, according to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS).

Compared with the previous year, the figure rose from 13.26 percent, the FSS said.

The capital adequacy ratio measures the proportion of a bank's capital to its risk-weighted assets.

The total amount of equity capital rose sharply by 3.5 trillion won, or 2.67 percent, over the three-month period, while the risk-weighted assets climbed 1.57 percent.

Standard Chartered Korea posted the highest capital ratio of 16.28 percent, followed by KB Financial Group Inc. with 15.58 percent.

The number of bank holding companies declined to nine from 11 as Woori Finance Holdings Co. and Citi Group Korea Inc. were disbanded during the third quarter. (Yonhap)