A strong dollar is threatening to push Asiana Airlines into complete capital erosion. As the struggling airline has a huge dollar-denominated debt, it is suffering a large foreign exchange loss due to the rising value of the U.S. greenback.Asiana Airlines posted record-breaking operating profit this
The author is a fixed income strategist of Shinhan Investment Corp. He can be reached at jk.ahn@shinhan.com. -- Ed. BOK needs to follow the Fed's lead and pick up the pace of tighteningKRW depreciation is now a growing problem for the Bank of Korea (BOK), with unprecedented rate hikes by the US
The author is an analyst of KB Securities. He can be reached at cygun101@kbfg.com. -- Ed. Maintain BUY; revise target price down 16.0% to KRW68,000 We revise our TP on KIH down 16.0% to KRW68,000. Our TP reflects KRW143,296 12m fwd BVPS and 0.47x target P/B (sustainable ROE: 9.4%→8.6%; COE: 13.9%→14
The author is an analyst of Shinhan Investment Corp. He can be reached at yjjung86@shinhan.com. -- Ed. Auto stocks to serve as a defensive play in the current environmentAlmost all consumer goods cannot escape the impacts of an economic slowdown or recession. Auto stocks are typical cyclical stocks
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris met with South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo in Tokyo on Sept. 27. She said that the U.S. government is well aware of South Korea’s concerns over the impact of the Inflation Reduction Act on electric vehicle (EV) manufacturers, and the two governments will cont
The author is an analyst of Shinhan Investment Corp. He can be reached at kw.eum@shinhan.com. -- Ed. Sharpest profit growth expected in 2023 if forex stabilizesHana Financial Group is the most sensitive to forex conditions among listed Korean banks. Although its exposure to foreign currency assets h
The Korea Financial Intelligence Unit announced on Sept. 26 that the aggregate value of the domestic cryptocurrency market dropped 58 percent to 23 trillion won in the first half of this year, when the number of cryptocurrencies in the market increased from 1,257 to 1,371.According to the unit, the
The Ministry of Economy and Finance announced on Sept. 25 that it would work together with banks so they can increase their forward exchange purchase for shipbuilders, where selling is increasing for an increase in orders and credit limits are being reached for a rise in exchange rate.According to t
People Power Party lawmaker Kim Sang-hoon remarked on Sept. 25 that cryptocurrency-related violations of the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act soared from 100 million won to 1.6 trillion won in 2018 and totaled 1.8 trillion won in 2021 and 2.2 trillion won in the first half of this year.“The total f
Deputy Prime Minister Choo Kyung-ho remarked on Sept. 25 that the United States will supply liquidity to Korea timely and adequately in the event of further instability in the foreign exchange market.“It is certain that a currency swap agreement with the U.S. helps stabilize the market, but it is no
The ongoing rapid depreciation of the South Korean currency is predicted to affect the top four South Korean business groups’ U.S. investment plans released before and after President Joe Biden’s visit in May.The planned investments add up to at least US$56 billion. For example, Samsung Electronics
The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) announced on Sept. 22 that the abnormal overseas remittances in the banking sector it has detected so far total US$7.22 billion. The amount was US$6.54 billion in its announcement last month. The FSS is planning to finish its inspection of 12 banks next month
The Bank of Korea and the National Pension Service (NPS) are planning to conclude a currency swap agreement so that the bank can give its U.S. dollar to the NPS in exchange for the won from the NPS. Then, the NPS can make overseas investments in the U.S. dollar without currency exchange, which is ex
The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) recently played a decisive role in a foreign currency securities lending and borrowing contract between KB Kookmin Bank and Shinhan Life Insurance, the first of its kind in the domestic financial sector.According to the contract, the bank now can borrow the in
The White House announced its Comprehensive Framework for Responsible Development of Digital Assets on Sept. 16. Its purpose is to block cryptocurrency use related to money laundering and terrorism and its targets include North Korea, which is trying to get foreign currencies by hacking under U.S. a
Shinhan Bank announced on Sept. 14 that it has borrowed USS400 million in sustainability-linked foreign currency club loans for the first time in Korea to expand ESG management and secure foreign currency funds.Sustainability linked loans involve setting "sustainability performance targets" for the
The authors are economists at Shinhan Investment Corp. They can be reached at chee@shinhan.com. – Ed. Cases of dollar liquidity crunch in the pastThe USD/KRW exchange rate has been on a steep increase and recently topped the KRW1,380 mark, nearing or exceeding the levels seen during the dollar liqui
WeMade announced on Sept. 6 that it has made a strategic investment in Metaverse Magna (MVM), a play to earn (P2E) guild project in Africa.According to WeMade, MVM's parent company, Nestcoin, invests in and support cryptocurrency projects in Africa.MVM is Africa's first and largest gaming de
The Financial Supervisory Service is looking into trillions of won sent abroad through domestic banks from domestic cryptocurrency exchanges. According to industry sources, most of the 4.1 trillion won remittances through Woori and Shinhan Banks started at the five major exchanges, that is, Gopax, B
Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) Chairman Lee Bok-hyun remarked on Sept. 5 that the FSS is working closely together with the prosecution and the Korea Customs Service regarding suspicious foreign exchange transactions in the banking sector and the FSS is open to cooperation with the Ministry of J