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  • Others

    SK hynix overtakes Samsung in market value amid AI-driven chip boom

    SK hynix overtook Samsung Electronics to claim the top position on KOSPI by market capitalization on Monday, ending Samsung's reign of 25 years and seven months as the benchmark index's most valuable listed company. KOSPI, meanwhile, edged higher to close above the 9,100 mark, setting a new record high on a closing basis. According to the Korea Exchange, SK hynix recorded a market capitalization of about 2,080.38 trillion won ($1.35 trillion), surpassing Samsung Electronics’ 2,066.66 trillion won by about 13.72 trillion won on a closing price basis. Samsung Electronics first claimed KOSPI's top spot by market capitalization on July 29, 1999, and had maintained its dominance uninterrupted since Nov. 21, 2000. The change at the top comes amid a rally in the semiconductor sector fueled by surging demand tied to the artificial intelligence (AI) boom. While both Samsung Electronics and SK hynix have benefited from the trend, SK hynix has delivered markedly stronger stock performance, ending Samsung's long-standing reign as the market's most valuable company. Samsung's shares have risen nearly

    3 MIN READBy Jun Ji-hye
    SK hynix overtakes Samsung in market value amid AI-driven chip boom
  • Policy

    Concentration in chips 'natural'; efforts to improve foreigners' market access underway: KRX chief

    2 MIN READBy Yonhap
    Concentration in chips 'natural'; efforts to improve foreigners' market access underway: KRX chief
  • Economy

    Watchdog launches probe into Mirae Asset Securities over SpaceX IPO allocation debacle

    3 MIN READBy Park Han-sol
    Watchdog launches probe into Mirae Asset Securities over SpaceX IPO allocation debacle
  • Economy

    Over 200 stocks face delisting as penny stock crackdown kicks off in July

    2 MIN READBy Lee Hyo-jin
    Over 200 stocks face delisting as penny stock crackdown kicks off in July
  • Economy

    8% youth savings plan faces test as stock market booms

    2 MIN READBy Lee Hyo-jin
    8% youth savings plan faces test as stock market booms
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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.

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Economy

Regulators thwart Korean version of 'WallStreetBets'

The GameStop logo in front of the Reddit logo in a February 2021 file photo. Reuters-YonhapAnti-short-selling campaign nearly ends in failureBy Park Jae-hyukA group of retail investors here have dropped their plans to conduct a mass buying of a certain stock on the Seoul bourse, which was initially supposed to take place this month to protest against short-sellers, most of whom are foreign and institutional investors.The Korea Stockholders Alliance (KSA) announced Sunday that the decision was made after taking into account the advice from its legal advisers and the predictable scenarios.“Our campaign has been described as a form of speculation aiming for a short-term margin, and above all, short-sellers' interruptions that rattled the market have created negative public sentiment toward us,” one of the alliance's managers wrote on its website.The group had tried to emulate U.S. social media platform Reddit's WallStreetBets internet forum users, who sparked a short squeeze of the GameStop stock on the New York Stock Exchange in January through a mass-purchase of the Americ

Aug 16, 2021By Park Jae-hyuk
Regulators thwart Korean version of 'WallStreetBets'
Economy

New FSC chief to be banned from regulating KakaoBank

Financial Services Commission Chairman nominee Koh Seung-beom enters his office at the Korea Deposit Insurance Corp. headquarters building in Seoul, Aug. 6. YonhapBy Park Jae-hyukThe nominee to be the country's top financial regulator is expected to be prohibited from being involved in regulations and decisions regarding KakaoBank, an internet-only bank and now a leading financial firm here in terms of market capitalization. According to the Act on the Establishment of the Financial Services Commission (FSC), Koh Seung-beom, who was nominated earlier this month to lead the FSC, will not be allowed to be involved in regulatory measures on Korea Investment Holdings (KIH) and its affiliates, due to his younger sister's marriage to the company's owner, Kim Nam-goo.Given that KIH is the de facto second-largest shareholder of KakaoBank with a 4.65 percent stake held by itself and an additional 26.96 percent stake owned by its second-tier subsidiary, Korea Investment Value Asset Management, Koh has to be excluded from any FSC decisions regarding policies related to the internet-only bank in

Aug 16, 2021By Park Jae-hyuk
New FSC chief to be banned from regulating KakaoBank
Economy

Banks expanding earnings from crypto commission returns

gettyimagesbankBy Lee Min-hyungKorean banks are expanding their commission profits by offering real-name bank accounts for their affiliated crypto exchanges. With large-cap cryptocurrencies showing signs of a strong rebound, sources said that the banks will see more profits in the third quarter of this year.For now, three lenders ― Shinhan Bank, NongHyup Bank and K Bank ― have signed partnerships with four local crypto exchanges, allowing users of the operators to engage stably in crypto trading even after a new cryptocurrency regulation takes effect next month.The banks had so far ended up gaining slight commission returns through the partnerships, placing emphasis on generating marketing effects by gesturing to investors that they are friendly to the emerging crypto market.But with the pandemic-era liquidity continuing to flow into the crypto market, banks are on track to reap more meaningful commission profits. According to data from the Financial Supervisory Service, the three lenders raked in commission profits worth 16.9 billion won ($14.45 million) in the second quarter of thi

Aug 15, 2021By Lee Min-hyung
Banks expanding earnings from crypto commission returns
  • Korea to rationalize cryptocurrency market
Economy

Korea seeks W600 trillion for 2022 national budget

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Hong Nam-ki presides a regular meeting of government's Central Economic Response Headquarters at the Government Complex in Seoul, downtown Seoul, last week. YonhapKorea is seeking to draw up a national budget of around 600 trillion won ($513.3 billion) for next year in a bid to maintain expansionary fiscal spending amid the pandemic, government sources said Sunday.If confirmed, this would mark a 7.5 percent on-year increase from this year's national budget of 558 trillion won, according to sources at the finance ministry and the National Assembly.The government is seeking to keep the year-on-year growth pace of the 2022 budget in the 7-percent range, slower than an 8.9 percent gain for this year, in a bid to promote fiscal soundness.But the size of next year's budget may top 600 trillion won, depending on how the fourth wave of the pandemic plays out, according to the sources.The country is struggling to stem a recent flare-up in COVID-19 cases amid the fast spread of the highly transmissible delta variant and slow vaccination

Aug 15, 2021
Korea seeks W600 trillion for 2022 national budget
Economy

Korea to rationalize cryptocurrency market

Binance's notification of the suspension of its Korean service / Screen capture from Binance's homepageBy Lee Min-hyungKorea's cryptocurrency market is undergoing a major reorganization to shift focus onto stablecoins and some large-cap cryptocurrencies ― such as Bitcoin and Ethereum ― amid the introduction of toughened financial regulations.Under the Special Financial Transaction Information Act, which will take effect Sept. 24, cryptocurrency exchanges will have to report Korean investors' activities on their platforms to the Financial Services Commission (FSC).As it is unfeasible for overseas crypto exchange operators to meet the regulatory guidelines from the Korean overseer, a group of major foreign exchanges are on track to shut down their businesses here ahead of the introduction of the act.Binance, the world's largest crypto exchange, was the first major overseas exchange to announce its decision to suspend part of its business here. The exchange notified Korean investors Friday that it would discontinue its trading services for local users here. Binance noted it would &ldquo

Aug 15, 2021By Lee Min-hyung
Korea to rationalize cryptocurrency market
  • Banks expanding earnings from crypto commission returns
Economy

A 2017 deja vu?

A man enters the Morgan Stanley building in New York in this file photo, while the Goldman Sachs logo is also seen at bottom-left. AP-YonhapMorgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs split over future course of Korean chipmakersBy Park Jae-hyukLast week, two of the top U.S.-based investment banks ― Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs ― published reports showing rather contrasting views for the global semiconductor industry.Titled “Memory ― Winter is Coming,” Morgan Stanley cut its target on Samsung Electronics ordinary shares (ORDs) to 89,000 won ($76) from 98,000 won as the report warned of a rather tough chip-pricing environment heading into next year.Despite Samsung Electronics' repeated confidence over the continued tight supply of memory chips, the Morgan Stanley report directly hit investor sentiment as ORDs at Samsung and SK hynix plummeted. It hugely cut its target on SK hynix to 80,000 won from 156,000 won.Morgan Stanley's abrupt skepticism contradicted its previous week's report that recommended investors stay “overweight,” leading foreign investors to massively unl

Aug 15, 2021By Park Jae-hyuk
A 2017 deja vu?
  • Samsung Electronics' market presence at lowest in 23 months
Economy

Samsung Electronics' market presence at lowest in 23 months

Samsung Electronics building in Seocho-dong, southern Seoul / YonhapGiant chipmaker Samsung Electronics saw its presence on the main bourse drop to the lowest in 23 months in terms of market capitalization amid a sharp drop, data showed Sunday.The tech behemoth's value stood at some 444 trillion won ($400 billion) as of Friday, or 19.43 percent of the KOSPI's total market value of 2,285 trillion won.It is the first time that the bellwether's weighting against the total market cap fell below the 20-percent mark since September, 2019.The figure marks a steep fall from 25.01 percent in Jan. 11 this year.Samsung Electronics hit a 52-week record at 96,800 won per share on Jan. 11 this year, thanks to the positive earnings forecast. But the stock price steeply fell to this year's lowest of 74,100 won on Friday amid massive foreign sell-offs. The binge selling stemmed from concerns that the chipmakers' earnings may wane after peaking in the second quarter. Experts said the advances of giant platform, auto and battery businesses are particularly accountable for the change in Samsung's weight

Aug 15, 2021
Samsung Electronics' market presence at lowest in 23 months
  • A 2017 deja vu?
Economy

Korea reviewing 2022 national budget of some 600 trillion won

Finance ministry building in Sejong City / Korea Times fileSouth Korea is seeking to draw up a national budget of around 600 trillion won ($513.3 billion) for next year in a bid to maintain expansionary fiscal spending amid the pandemic, government sources said Sunday.If confirmed, this would mark a 7.5 percent on-year increase from this year's national budget of 558 trillion won, according to sources at the finance ministry and the National Assembly.The government is seeking to keep the on-year growth pace of the 2022 budget in the 7-percent range, slower than an 8.9 percent gain for this year, in a bid to promote fiscal soundness.But the size of next year's budget may top 600 trillion won, depending on how the fourth wave of the pandemic plays out, according to the sources.The country is struggling to stem a recent flare-up in COVID-19 cases amid the fast spread of the highly transmissible delta variant and slow vaccinations.The number of daily virus cases surpassed 1,000 for the 40th straight day, with COVID-19 infections hitting a record high of 2,223 cases on Wednesday.The resur

Aug 15, 2021
Korea reviewing 2022 national budget of some 600 trillion won
Economy

NTS to ease tax verification for local business owners

National Tax Service (NTS) Seoul Regional Office in central Seoul / Korea Times fileBy Anna J. ParkIn a move to alleviate difficulties faced by local business owners due to COVID-19, the National Tax Service (NTS) announced Friday that it will ease tax verification and streamline year-end tax adjustment procedures.“Amid the current resurgence of COVID-19, the NTS needs to assume a strengthened role,” NTS Commissioner Kim Dai-ji said in an online meeting of district tax office heads Friday. “The NTS plans to ease tax verification for small business owners, who are facing difficulties from the pandemic and unbalanced economic recovery.” Kim added that the tax office will take bold action in offering direct help to job creators to boost the national economy. The NTS chief also said annual year-end tax adjustment procedures will be largely streamlined. Currently, the taxation system puts business owners through a complicated annual process.“From the second half of the year, the NTS will implement a full-on transformation into digital taxation,” Kim add

Aug 13, 2021By Anna J. Park
NTS to ease tax verification for local business owners
Economy

NPS invests 27.5 tril. won in PEFs

The headquarters of National Pension Service (NPS) located in Jeonju, Jeolla Province. / Courtesy of NPS By Anna J. ParkThe National Pension Service (NPS), with assets under management (AUM) of over 830 trillion won ($710 billion), invested 27.5 trillion won in private equity funds (PRF) as of the end of last year.According to a recent disclosure of the NPS's alternative investments, it invested 27.5 trillion won in 349 PEFs. This is the first time for the NPS to disclose the details of how much and where it has invested, and is part of it being more transparent about its investment operations. The investment in PEFs is up 12.5 percent from the 24 trillion won recorded in 2020; and 271 of the PEFs are blind-pool funds, meaning that investment is based on a particular firm, and the money is managed by a general partner having a broad discretion about investment decisions. Buyout funds, aimed at acquiring management rights, accounted for more than 56 percent of the PE

Aug 13, 2021By Anna J. Park
NPS invests 27.5 tril. won in PEFs
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