The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) urged the financial authorities of the member states to regulate cryptocurrency exchanges in the same manner they regulate commercial banks in order to prevent cryptocurrencies from being misused for illegal transactions. This has put nearly 200 South Korean cr

Shinhan Bank announced on June 23 that it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on strategic cooperation in the digital sector with Octopus Cards Ltd., the largest contactless prepaid card operator in Hong Kong.Octopus operates Octopus Cards, a smart card for making micropayments in public

The net asset value of bond-type exchange-traded funds (ETFs) surpassed 6 trillion won (US$5.16 billion) this month. With uncertainty arising from the stock market and expectations on interest rates going lower, a large amount of money in the EFT market is flowing into bond ETFs which follow the bon

Korea Exchange (KRX) has decided to postpone its decision on whether to delist Kolon TissueGene Inc. which caused the Invossa debacle.KRX said on June 19, “We will extend the deadline of the ongoing Invossa investigation considering the needs for additional investigations to decide on whether to inc

Although the South Korean government has an ambitious plan to make the nation an international financial hub, another foreign bank is closing down its business in Korea this year. Starting with the shutdown of Goldman Sachs’ branch in 2017, Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentar

South Korean companies’ growth, profitability and stability indexes deteriorated in the first quarter of this year. They suffered a drop in net sales growth and operating margin, and witnessed an increase in debt-to-equity ratio and reliance on borrowings.The net sales growth rate of 3,333 out of 17

South Korea’s financial watchdog is planning to introduce artificial intelligence (AI) technology in examining private equity funds.The Financial Supervisory Service announced on June 18 that it has started a process to select a company that will develop an artificial intelligence (AI) system to sup

Listed stocks and bonds will no longer exist in a paper form in South Korea starting from Sept. 16, as the country will introduce an electronic securities system. Under the new system, the issuance, registration and circulation of securities will be performed on an electronic basis without physical

The South Korean initial public offering (IPO) market has suffered the worst contraction for two years in a row as the intensifying trade war between the United States and China and Korea's economic downturn weighed down its stock market.The volume of new IPOs came to 1.17 trillion won (US$990.3

The number of companies which have decided to pay out interim dividends in the first half of this year has increased compared to last year. With investors’ interest in stock dividends growing due to low interest rates, more and more companies are paying out interim dividends as there are growing cal

South Korea’s leading asset manager Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. has cashed out of a German premium office building it bought two years ago, earning 160 billion won (US$134.74 million) from the investment. Its annual internal rate of return (IRR) is estimated to reach 25 percent.The company sa

Korean institutional investors are scrambling to introduce the stewardship code which requires them to implement their fiduciary duties.The number of asset management firms, private equity funds and securities firms which adopted the stewardship code as of June 13 totaled 97, according to the data f

Shinhan Bank has opened a new branch in Ha Nam Province, south of Hanoi, raising the number of branches in Vietnam to 32. Shinhan has built the widest branch network among foreign banks operating in Vietnam.Ha Nam Branch is a corporate and investment banking (CIB) center tailored to corporate client

South Korea's financial authorities are planning to shift the focus of accounting supervision from violation detection and restrictions toward prior guidance. This is to prevent confusion and burden on the part of enterprises with the South Korean government taking accounting reform measures suc

The Credit Finance Association of South Korea said at a seminar on June 13 that the mobile payment and settlement market is growing fast with fintech firms emerging in the industry and existing financial companies can no longer lead payment and settlement services.In South Korea, online and offline

An increasing number of foreign cryptocurrency exchanges are entering the South Korean market, attracted by its particularly high cryptocurrency trading volume-to-population ratio and lack of regulations related to cryptocurrency exchange establishment.On the other hand, South Korean cryptocurrency

The Financial Supervisory Service announced on June 10 that foreigners net-sold shares worth a total of 2,917 billion won in South Korea last month while the value of the bonds they own reached a new high.The net selling volume is the largest since October last year, when the volume amounted to 4,63

Samsung Electronics is maintaining a high dividend payout policy despite a sharp drop in its profits.Samsung Electronics has decided to pay quarterly dividends of 2.404 trillion won in the first quarter of this year, according to the electronic disclosure system of the Financial Supervisory Service

The growth of the fintech industry in Korea is slower than in other countries such as the United States due to an immature ecosystem and a delay in invigorating competition in the sector, the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) said on June 6.In the United States and Europe, mega deals worth more th

The Bank of Korea announced on June 4 that 32.3 percent of South Korean companies, an all-time high since records began in 2013, had an interest coverage ratio of less than 100 percent in 2018. The interest coverage ratio of all companies was 588.4 percent, down 57.1 percentage points from a year ea