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Reporter : Anna J. Park
Thu, June 1, 2023 | 11:45
FSC, FSS, banking association aim to restore pre-pandemic bank operation hours
Aiming to minimize customer inconvenience, the heads of financial authorities and the local bank association plan to normalize the country's bank operation hours to pre-pandemic standards. Since July 2021, banks nationwide have been operating from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., which is an hour shorter than their previous operating hours of 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. before the pandemic.
Invest Seoul joins Hong Kong's Asian Financial Forum to promote local fintech industry
Invest Seoul, the city government's investment arm, will host a series of events in Hong Kong later this week to promote the city as Asia's financial hub and to facilitate networking for local fintech firms.
Digital medicine market to grow by 27% annually: KPMG report
More medical services will be available in the digital realm, meaning that diverse digital technologies ranging from software applications and games will be applied to practices for treatment and the prevention of diseases. Samjong KPMG's latest report, which analyzes investment and strategies concerning digital medicine, forecasts that the digital medicine market in Korea wi...
Polarized corporate bond market to continue this year
The local corporate bond market is expected to continue showing signs of polarization this year, amid sluggish economic growth and high-interest rates, data showed Monday. According to data compiled by financial information portal Yonhap Infomax, the total amount of AAA-grade corporate bonds issued last year stood at 12.3 trillion won ($9.88 billion), which is an increase of ...
Daol Financial Group focuses on securing liquidity
Continuing its aggressive restructuring, Daol Financial Group decided to sell its credit rating agency affiliate earlier this week. The move is in line with its latest efforts to secure liquidity by selling its key affiliates. The group said it signed an agreement with Mason Capital Management and Lead Capital Management on Wednesday to sell its 100 percent stake in the credi...
YTN shares held by state firms to be sold
YTN, Korea's first 24-hour news channel, is expected to find a new owner as early as September, as the government launched the procedures to sell its stake in the broadcaster earlier this week. According to the investment banking industry, state-run IT service management company KEPCO KDN, which holds a 21.43 percent stake in YTN, sent a request for proposals (RFP) to major f...
REITs face refinancing challenge as interest rates soar
Various Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) listed on the Korean stock market are expected to have a harder time this year to refinance their debts amid the high interest rates. While major REITs may succeed in refinancing their debt, increased costs from soaring interest rates will lower investors' dividend profits.
Life insurers strengthen digitalization
Insurance companies have set as this year's priority expanding their in-house digital-related units or seeking partnerships with fintech firms to increase their tech capabilities. This move is more salient among life insurance companies than their non-life peers, so as not to lag behind the more tech-savvy financial sector. KB Life, which started anew from January this year a...
[INTERVIEW] Korea to focus on transparency, infrastructure to become Asia's financial hub
Seoul's ranking as a favored global financial hub city has been on the rise since 2019, coming in at the 11th spot in this year's Global Financial Centers Index (GFCI). It is an impressive climb of 25 places in the past three years, since the city was ranked the 36th most favored in 2019. The ranking of the southeastern port city Busan, the second-largest city of Korea, also ...
Fear index shows stock markets haven't hit bottom yet
The current movement of the VIX index, which is often referred to as a fear gauge of stock markets, is hinting that markets haven't yet hit bottom. The VIX, standing for the Chicago Board Options Exchange's CBOE Volatility Index, has been popularly used to measure market sentiment on volatility, as it is derived from S&P 500 options for the 30 days following the measurement d...
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