KB Kookmin Bank

Earnings 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...

Debt financing 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...

Shipping & Shipbuilding 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...

Earnings 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...

Mergers & Acquisitions 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...

Earnings 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...

League table 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...

Banking & Finance 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...

Pension funds 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 — ...

Foreign exchange 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 ...

Foreign exchange 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...

Central bank 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...

Real estate 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...

Economy 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...

Commodities 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 ...

Cryptocurrencies 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...

Asset management 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...

Earnings 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...

Banking & Finance 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...

Earnings 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...

Regulations 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...

Investment banking 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...

Central bank Bank of Korea seen cutting interest rates by 25 bps in January

The Bank of Korea (BOK) is widely expected to cut interest rates by 25 basis points on Thursday amid the nation's softening economy and moderating i...

IPOs K Bank drops 2025 IPO in 3rd Kospi listing cancellation

K Bank, a South Korean online lender, said on Wednesday it has again canceled its initial public offering plan amid the languid stock market an...

Foreign exchange South Korea expands foreign banks' access to forex market

An increasing number of foreign banks without a physical presence in South Korea are gearing up to offer dollar-won conversion services to non-Korea...

Foreign exchange Global investment banks see Korean won staying weak in 2025

The South Korean won is forecast to hover in the mid-1,400s level against the dollar through the third quarter of 2025, according to global investme...

Upcoming IPOs Online lender K Bank eyes Feb 2025 IPO at lower valuation

K Bank, a South Korean online lender, is making a fresh attempt to list on the Korean stock market in February 2025 as bitcoin’s record-breaki...

Central bank S.Korea’s c.bank chief sees limited impact of political turmoil on economy

South Korea’s central bank chief said on Wednesday the impact of political turmoil caused by martial law on Asia’s fourth-largest econom...

Tech, Media & Telecom RaonSecure to supply biometrics to SBI Sumishin Net Bank

South Korean cybersecurity firm RaonSecure Co. said on Monday it signed a $2.5 million contract with SBI Sumishin Net Bank, the largest internet ban...