GEPS taps former KB Asset chief risk officer as new CIO
South Korea’s Government Employees Pension Service (GEPS) on Wednesday appointed Sohn Young-jin, former head of risk management at KB Asset Ma...
Fubon Bank expands Korea presence into banking
Fubon Bank, Taiwan’s largest bank, is poised to open its first office in Seoul in July, expanding its footprint in South Korea beyond insuranc...
KakaoBank rallies after winning Thai virtual banking license
Shares in KakaoBank Corp. soared as much as 17% to hit their highest level in nearly three years on Friday after the South Korean internet-only bank...
Korea’s stablecoin trade at $42 bn; BOK balks at non-bank stablecoin deals
South Korea’s central bank is cautious about non-banks and fintech firms issuing and handling stablecoins amid a global cryptocurrency rally, ...
BOK turns more dovish after 25 bp rate cut; 2025 growth outlook halved
The Bank of Korea (BOK) on Thursday cut its benchmark interest rate by a quarter percentage point to 2.5%, citing growing concerns over faltering do...
Morgan Stanley stalwart Cho bows out after over 10 years at the helm
The investment banking head of Morgan Stanley’s Seoul office is stepping down after overseeing a series of landmark deals over more than a dec...
Samsung flexes financial muscle as insurance, card units top rankings
Samsung Group’s financial affiliates are closing in on KB Financial Group for the top spot in South Korea’s financial services sector, u...
KakaoBank posts record Q1 profit, eyes Thai expansion after Indonesia
KakaoBank Corp., a leading South Korean internet-only bank, posted its highest quarterly profit in the first quarter, defying a drop in interest inc...
Woori Financial wins approval for Tongyang, ABL Life acquisition
Woori Financial Group Inc., South Korea’s fourth-largest financial services provider, has received conditional approval from the country&rsquo...
Kookmin Bank raises $700 mn in forex bonds amid strong demand
Kookmin Bank, a unit of KB Financial Group, raised $700 million in foreign exchange bonds on Tuesday, signaling a recovery in investor sentiment tow...
Hanwha Ocean shares sink after KDB's sale of 4.2% stake
Investors rushed to dump Hanwha Ocean Co. shares early Tuesday after its second-largest shareholder, Korea Development Bank, cashed in on a 4.2% sta...
S.Korea’s top 4 financial holding firms cheer upbeat Q1 results
South Korea’s top four financial holding companies – Shinhan, KB, Hana and Woori – reported stellar earnings for the first quarter...
Kyobo Life poised to buy Japan’s SBI Group-owned savings bank
Kyobo Life Insurance Co. is in the final stages of negotiation with Japanese financial group SBI Holdings Inc. to buy about a 50% stake in SBI Savin...
KB Financial logs 61% profit growth, rebounding from ELS fiasco
KB Financial Group Inc. on Thursday reported a 61% jump in first-quarter profit, led by a nearly threefold rise in earnings at its flagship unit Koo...
UBS tops Korea’s buyout deal advisory in Q1 thanks to Lotte
UBS Group AG, the frontrunner in South Korea's M&A market last year, retained the top position in the country's buyout advisory market in the fi...
Shinhan Bank partners with Hyundai Mobis for loan services to suppliers
Hyundai Mobis Co., South Korea’s top auto parts maker, has partnered with the country’s biggest lender Shinhan Bank to help its partners...
KB, Samsung SRA, Capstone named NPS’ core property fund operators
South Korea’s National Pension Service (NPS) has selected three asset managers to oversee its domestic core real estate platform fund — ...
Seoul to lift curbs on banks' investment in kimchi bonds
South Korea will lift restrictions on banks' purchase of domestically issued foreign currency bonds, dubbed “kimchi bonds," as part of policy ...
South Korea’s forex reserves dip to nearly 5-year low in February
South Korea’s foreign exchange reserves diminished to the lowest level in nearly five years last month, largely due to the expanded forex swap...
Bank of Korea cuts rates, growth forecast on Trump tariff policy
South Korea’s central bank on Tuesday cut interest rates while sharply reducing its economic growth forecast as lingering political turmoil fo...
Macquarie to sell Seoul hotel to KB Asset for $119 million
Macquarie Asset Management is poised to sell a four-star hotel in Seoul for about 170 billion won ($118.7 million) to South Korea’s KB Asset M...
S.Korea’s default risk dips below pre-martial law levels
South Korea’s financial market has stabilized with a sharp fall in the country’s default risk and some recovery of its currency value ag...
FOMO-driven gold rush lifts kimchi premium on gold to highest level
With South Korean retail investors joining the global gold rush in ‘fear of missing out’, or FOMO, the country’s gold price has ...
S.Korea to allow listed firms to trade cryptocurrencies in second half
South Korea plans to allow companies listed on the local stock market to trade virtual assets, including cryptocurrencies, on a pilot basis in the s...
US Capital Group raises stake in South Korea’s LS Electric
Capital Group Companies Inc. has increased its stake in LS Electric Co., a South Korean supplier to Elon Musk’s X.AI Corp., as the US asset ma...
Shinhan Bank reclaims top spot as S.Korea’s leading lender
Shinhan Bank, a key arm of Shinhan Financial Group, reclaimed its position as South Korea’s top lender posting its largest-ever profit in 2024...
KB Financial to buy back $359 bn in shares after record net profit in 2024
KB Financial Group Inc., South Korea’s largest financial holding group, will spend nearly 1.8 trillion won ($1.2 billion) to boost shareholder...
Korean financial holding firms log record-high profits in 2024
South Korea’s top four financial holding firms are estimated to have posted their highest-ever profits in 2024, driven by hefty interest incom...
South Korea allows foreigners to trade treasuries via omnibus accounts
South Korea will allow foreign investors to trade South Korean treasury bonds via omnibus accounts under the names of global custodians or asset man...
MBK’s ByungJu Kim, UBS’ Kyungin Lee: Most influential in capital market
Michael ByungJu Kim, co-founder, partner and chairman of Northeast Asia-focused private equity firm MBK Partners Ltd., and Kyungin David Lee, UBS Gl...
