financial services

Pension funds S.Korea’s GEPS to commit $143 million to foreign mid-cap buyout funds

The Government Employees Pension Service (GEPS), one of South Korea’s top three public pension programs, will commit up to 200 billion won ($1...

E-commerce Coupang’s Q1 revenue up; quarterly dip signals rising competition

Coupang Inc., South Korea’s largest e-commerce platform, extended its year-on-year sales growth with an 11.1% increase to post $7.9 billion in...

Asset management Korea Investment & Securities deepens global ties with 2nd IR in New York

Korea Investment & Securities Co. (KIS), the brokerage unit of Korea Investment Holdings Co., said on Wednesday it hosted its flagship investor ...

Asset management Korea Investment & Securities to sell Goldman Sachs funds

Korea Investment & Securities Co. said on Tuesday it is set to sell funds operated by Goldman Sachs Asset Management LP in South Korea, offering...

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...

Mergers & Acquisitions CJ CheilJedang scraps sale of Brazilian unit CJ Selecta to Bunge

CJ CheilJedang Corp., South Korea’s largest food company, has cancelled the sale of a 66% stake in Brazilian soybean crusher CJ Selecta S.A. a...

Earnings Shinhan Financial’s overseas business blooms, on track for record earnings

Shinhan Financial Group Co., South Korea’s leading financial holding company, is poised to surpass 1 trillion won ($692 million) in annual net...

Business & Politics Seoul mulls joint review of Alaska LNG project with Japan, Taiwan, Vietnam

South Korea has proposed forming a consortium with Japan, Taiwan and Vietnam to jointly assess the feasibility of investing in the $45 billion Alask...

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...

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...

Culture & Trends S.Korea’s medical tourism thrives on weak currency

Foreign visitors to South Korea jumped nearly 20% early this year, largely driven by a sharp depreciation in the country’s currency value agai...

Tech, Media & Telecom LG CNS breaks into US smart city market

LG CNS Co., the information technology service unit of South Korea’s LG Group, has won its first public-sector smart city contracts in the US,...

Shareholder activism US PE firm Miri Capital ups stake in Korea’s STIC Investments

US private equity firm Miri Capital Management LLC said on Tuesday it has raised its stake in STIC Investments Inc. to step up its shareholder activ...

Carbon neutrality SK Innovation E&S, JB Financial team up for renewable energy loans

JB Financial Group Co., the parent company of Jeonbuk Bank and Gwangju Bank, will join hands with SK Innovation E&S Co. and InnerGen Co. to roll...

Automobiles South Korea announces emergency support for auto sector against US tariffs

South Korea’s government has announced emergency-support measures for the country’s auto sector, as it rushed to ease the impact of U.S....

Alternative investments Korean financial firms face growing risks in overseas property investments

South Korea’s financial institutions are increasingly at risk of their overseas real estate investments turning sour, government data showed o...

Airlines Korean Air to finalize $32.7 bn deals with Boeing, GE Aerospace

Korean Air Lines Co., the country’s top full-service carrier, is set to soon finalize $32.7 billion deals with Boeing Co. and GE Aerospace for...

Banking & Finance Hana Financial CEO set for reappointment with foreign investor backing

More than half of the foreign shareholders in Hana Financial Group have thrown their support behind Chief Executive Ham Young-joo for a second term,...

Debt financing MBK chairman to leverage own funds to pay Homeplus suppliers

Michael ByungJu Kim, the co-founder, partner and chairman of Northeast Asia-focused private equity firm (PEF) MBK Partners Ltd., is expected to leve...

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...

Real estate BNK's planned acquisition of Hyundai Motor Securities building falters

BNK Asset Management Co.'s bid to acquire the Hyundai Motor Securities building in central Seoul has hit a stumbling block as the main tenant, Hyund...

Executive reshuffles Naver to name new CFO as incumbent financial manager's term nears end

South Korea’s tech giant Naver Corp. is expected to soon announce a new chief financial officer as its current CFO Kim Nam-sun, credited for t...

Shareholder value Hana Financial to boost corporate value by raising shareholder returns

South Korea’s Hana Financial Group aims to increase corporate value by ramping up shareholder returns based on a sustainable profit structure ...

Alternative investments S.Korean investors name their 33 favorite alternative asset managers

Blackstone and HarbourVest Partners are South Korean institutional investors’ preferred private equity firms, according to a survey by Korea I...

Stocks Meritz leaps to No. 2 financial holding firm in South Korea

Meritz Financial Group Inc., once a medium-sized financial service firm in South Korea, has become the second-most valuable publicly traded financia...

Shareholder value S.Korea’s top financial regulator pushes tax support for value-up program

South Korea is ramping up efforts to encourage companies to enhance shareholder value by providing tax support for its corporate value-up program, a...

Earnings Meritz cheers record profit in 2024, boasts top 3 market cap

Meritz Financial Group Inc. has reported its best-ever net profit for last year thanks to handsome gains from investments by its insurance and secur...

Business & Politics Woori Financial CEO Yim Jong-yong should stay for governance: FSS chief

Woori Financial Group Chief Executive and Chairman Yim Jong-yong should keep his post through to the end of his term and lead the banking group&rsqu...

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...

Private equity EQT targets healthcare, technology, business service providers in Korea

EQT, the largest private equity firm in Europe, is setting its sights on healthcare, technology companies and business service providers in South Ko...