South Korean stocks opened lower Wednesday on renewed fears over the US banking crisis following the auction of a US regional bank ahead of the Federal Reserve's policy meeting this week. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index slid 13.66 points, or 0.54 percent, to 2,510.73 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Wall Street ended the session down overnight as uncertainties arose over the financial system following the sale of the First Republic Bank to JPMorgan Chase & Co., led by

Samsung Life Insurance announced on Thursday that it has acquired a 20 percent stake in Meridiam SAS, a French private equity firm focused on infrastructure investment. With this investment, Samsung Life has become the second-largest shareholder of the French company. "As Meridiam has diverse investment experience and expert executives in the infrastructure sector, we believe that it is an adequate strategic partner for Samsung Life Insurance's global alternative investment expansion,

More than half of major listed firms in South Korea saw their financial soundness worsen in 2022 amid high global interest rates and inflation, data showed Monday. The debt-to-equity ratio of 56 out of the 106 listed companies belonging to the country's top 10 business groups increased last year from a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Exchange. In particular, as many as 21 companies had a debt ratio of 200 percent or higher. The data is based on those firms' separate

South Korea's largest conglomerate, Samsung Group, on Wednesday marked the 85th anniversary of its founding in a low-key manner. It is the first year that the big day has been celebrated following de facto leader Lee Jae-yong’s promotion to executive chairman of Samsung Electronics. Industry sources and Samsung officials said the group commemorated this year’s anniversary without organizing any official events as in other years. There was no special message delivered to employ

South Korean food and bakery giant SPC Group said Monday it has appointed Ha Joo-ho, former communications director of Hotel Shilla, as its new communications chief. Ha is a communications veteran who spent most of his career at Samsung companies. The 59-year-old graduated from Seoul National University with a degree in journalism. After joining Samsung Life Insurance in 1989, he served in diverse communications positions at Samsung’s key affiliates, including Samsung Group. He was promote

US-based investment management firm BlackRock has become the third-largest shareholder of South Korean brokerage house Samsung Securities, a filing showed Thursday. BlackRock’s 12 affiliated entities hold a total of 5.46 percent stake (4.87 million shares) in Samsung Securities as of Feb. 28, according to a disclosure filed with the Financial Supervisory Service. A minority shareholder with at least 5 percent of shares in a company is subject to filing obligations as a block holder of th

South Korean stocks closed marginally higher Friday, on growing hopes that the US Federal Reserve could go for smaller interest rate hikes despite data showing a resilient economy. The local currency gained sharply against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index added 4.22 points, or 0.17 percent, to finish at 2,432.07. Trading volume was moderate at 363.8 million shares worth 7.73 trillion won ($5.93 billion), with gainers outnumbering decliners 467 to 410. Federal Reserv

NPS In Action is a series of articles and interviews on South Korea’s largest investor National Pension Service to analyze its current state and identify tasks that lie ahead. This is the first installment. -- Ed. Seo Won-joo took the reins as the new chief investment officer of the National Pension Service in the time when he has to wear multiple hats to run the world’s third largest pension fund. With a career path that wound through life insurance companies and a pension fund

One of the biggest traditions of the Korean Seollal holiday is sebae, or the act of bowing to your elders and wishing them a happy new year, after which older relatives share cash gifts. This long-held tradition has gone on in Korean households for generations. However, times are changing. The question of how much money it is appropriate to give or receive -- or whether anything should be given or received at all -- is a hard one to reach a consensus on. In a survey conducted by SK Communication

South Korean battery makers are luring tech talent in the US with big welfare benefits and other hefty incentives to fuel their growth momentum in the burgeoning electric vehicle market, industry sources said Monday. Starting from Jan. 1, LG Energy Solution, the largest battery maker here, will extend its medical welfare policy by offering free health insurance to some 2,000 employees working at its Michigan plant along with their family members. Currently, the company covers insurance for denta

The long-awaited bill to revise the Insurance Business Act is reigniting debate over Samsung’s ownership structure, under which its insurance arm is the largest shareholder of Samsung Electronics. The National Assembly on Tuesday for the first time put forward the revision bills in the parliament's National Policy Committee. The bills, proposed in June 2020 respectively by main opposition Democratic Party lawmakers such as Rep. Park Yong-jin and Rep. Lee Yong-woo, were the first bills to b

HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam, Nov. 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Top 30 Digital Leaders in consumer-facing enterprises from banking, insurance, retails, e-commerce to financial services have gathered in an invite-only roundtable networking dinner at GEM Center co-hosted by Kyanon Digital, CleverTap and Talon.One - experts in marketing technology and growth strategy. The leaders were discussing Composable Enterprise Architecture, Low-code / No-code Technology and Big Ops which forecasted to be the k

Lee Jae-yong’s formal ascension to the top seat at Samsung Electronics, the crown jewel of the nation’s largest conglomerate, is fueling speculation about potential changes in the founding family’s governance structure across Samsung companies. His promotion to chairman has long been considered a crucial step for Lee to wield more power at Samsung. With the new title, Lee’s vision for a “New Samsung” will take a clearer shape, while stalled talks on mega deals

HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam, Oct. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The SMARTIES VIETNAM 2022 jury selected the best and most inventive campaigns of the year after months of due deliberation. In light of their significant influence on the industry, these campaigns are worthy of becoming outstanding case studies for the Modern Marketing community. Industry Awards winners of Smarties Vietnam 2022 A season of fierce competition among the best campaigns. The 9th SMARTIES Awards - the prestigious c

Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong has been promoted to chairman of the world's largest chipmaker and smartphone maker, ending a high-profile succession process that took more than three decades to complete, with a vow to invest in transcending technology that could reboot the tech giant's growth engine. Lee, 54, was crowned Samsung Electronics' new executive chairman with the board of directors' approval Thursday morning, 10 years after he held the vice chairman