Foreign direct investment (FDI) in Korea has rebounded for the first time in five quarters.According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy on Oct. 10, third-quarter FDI increased 4.8 percent on year to US$3.61 billion, turning around from four consecutive quarters of decline. However, FDI ar
Financial Services Commission (FSC) Chairman Eun Sung-soo has suggested a shift in his stance on private equity funds (PEFs) towards tightening regulations for investor protection.During a news conference on Oct. 10 held to mark his first month on the job, Eun said he had at first agreed with the co
Every major shareholder and executive of a non-listed company must make a public disclosure on shareholding, even in the event of no change in their stake ownership, within five days from the day of listing when the company goes public. In addition, convertible bonds and bonds with warrants are subj
Pension funds and public funds, including the National Pension Service (NPS), are expected to tone down their aggressive stock purchasing after boosting the KOSPI market by purchasing large-cap stocks since August.As negative indicators of the global economy have recently been announced, an increasi
Cryptocurrency data disclosure service provider CrossAngle will start a disclosure service for blockchain projects.CrossAngle, which operates Xangle, a public data disclosure platform for the global cryptocurrency market, said on Oct. 6, “It was difficult to protect investors in the existing cryptoc
As the interest rates of South Korean bonds have increased more than 20 percent over the past month, domestic securities companies which own 212 trillion won (US$176.37 billion) worth of bonds are on alert. A rise in bond interest rates means a fall in bond prices. Therefore, the financial soundness
The Korea Economic Research Institute (KERI) under the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) has expressed opposition to the government’s plan to revise the Enforcement Decree of the Financial Investment Services and Capital Market Act to allow public pension funds, including the National Pension Se
Hyundai Motor Group has recently elevated the status of investor relations (IR) units of its subsidiaries by putting them under the direct control of company presidents. It is part of its plans to improve the stock performance of the affiliates by expanding the power and responsibility of the IR uni
The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) said on Oct. 1 that Woori and Hana Banks are suspected of having mis-sold about 20 percent of their controversial derivatives-linked fund (DLF) products.The announcement was based on an inspection into the two banks’ DLF sales records. It found that of the 3,9
The equity-linked securities (ELS) market, which enjoyed great popularity among Korean investors, is slowing down. The size of ELS issuance in September nearly halved from this year’s record high.The amount of ELS issuance, including equity-linked bonds (ELBs), came to 5.18 trillion won (US$4.30 bil
The daily turnover of South Korea's stock market sank to a 10-month low in September.The daily transactions on the main KOSPI and secondary KOSDAQ markets averaged 8.49 trillion won (US$7.07 billion) last month, according to the data released by Korea Exchange (KRX) on Oct. 1. It marked the lowe
The 16 commercial banks operating in Korea sold derivative products worth 193 trillion won (US$160.99 billion) in 4.91 million transactions over the past five years from 2015 to Aug. 7 in 2019. Among them, 60.40 billion won (US$50.39 million) worth of products sold through 976 transactions caused lo
Investors are losing interest in South Korean bond-type funds, which have drawn until recently a large amount of capital amid growing uncertainties in the global financial market and concerns about global economic slowdown.The net outflow of capital from 274 domestic bond-type funds came to 608.10 b
The ratio of overseas alternative investments to total investment by eight large South Korean securities companies increased nearly by three times over the last three years. In recent years, financial authorities eased capital regulations against securities firms, which increased their capacity to i
As the trend towards low interest rates continues, the issuance of and investment in high-risk derivatives linked securities (DLS) and equity linked securities (ELS) has been growing rapidly.The balance of DLS and ELS came to 117.40 trillion won (US$97.83 billion) as of July this year, up 90.50 tril
Woori Bank, a major South Korean commercial lender, will sell a 4 percent stake in its parent Woori Financial Group Inc. to a strategic investor. The bank acquired a 5.8 percent stake in Woori Financial earlier this month in exchange for handing over its stake in Woori Card to the parent company.Woo
The new Act on External Audit, which went into effect last year, is expected to put the brakes on listed companies’ investment in private equity funds (PEFs), as accounting firms are applying stricter valuation standards to it.Geumhwa PSC Co. and Green Cross Lab Cell Corp. announced plans this month
As the secondary KOSDAQ market, especially biotech stocks, is getting volatile, an increasing number of listed companies are buying convertible bonds (CBs) before maturity. This is largely because bond holders are seeking to redeem bonds in advance as they are unlikely to earn profits due to slumpin
Investors in the first batch of Hana Bank’s derivative-linked fund (DLF) products, which are to mature on Sept. 25, will suffer a 46 percent loss of their principal. The figure, although devastating, is better than the 60 percent loss suffered by investors in Woori Bank’s DLF products which matured
Samsung Electronics’ share price is about to surpass 50,000 won (US$42.07) for the first time in a year and four months. It has continued to rise for days on expectations for an improved performance in the third quarter.The company’s shares closed at 49,200 won (US$41.40) on the benchmark KOSPI mark