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Apr 06, 2011
- Korean Financial Market Update
- 1. Recent trends in the stock marketThe KOSPI index, which once fell to a low point of 1,923.30 on March 15 after the Japanese earthquake, has rebounded to a record-high of 2130.43 on April 5, renewing the highest point of 2,115.69 prior to the earthquake.The recent recovery in stock prices is mainly attributed to foreigners’ net buying based on their optimism that the Korean economy is relatively stable amid ongoing external uncertainties such as Japan’s earthquake and political turmoil in the Middle East.2. Foreign investors’ movement in Korean stock exchangeForeigners sold KRW 3.5 trillion in February, the biggest net sale by monthly basis since May 2010, but made net buying of KRW 1.2 trillion in March: notably, net buying of KRW 2.8 trillion after the Japanese earthquake.(By country)Starting this year, there has been a continued outflow of European funds (including the U.K), reflecting ongoing uncertainties in the European region. By contrasts inflows of funds from the U.S. and Asian region have been increasing since March.*As of March, the U.S made a net purchase of KRW 1.3 trillion, Singapore of KRW 0.7 trillion, China of KRW 0.2 trillion*Despite our concern of Japanese capital being pulled back, Japanese made a net purchase of KRW 155 billion instead(By fund-type)In February, all foreign investors except for Asian sovereign funds were net sellers. Starting March, however, the U.S. funds began to make net buying in large volume. Net buying by foreign investors was mostly made after Japan’s earthquake, and European investors (excluding European funds) also turned net buyers of Korean stocks.(By investment period)It has turned out more than half of foreign net buying made after the Japanese earthquake was made by short-term investors. (i.e. investment banks)*Short-term: IB with investment turnover ratio over 500%3. Grounds for foreign investors’ net buyingWithout wider spread of risk from the recent Japanese earthquake and the regional conflict in the
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Mar 30, 2011
- Monitoring Results of Domestic Banks' Foreign Currency Financing
- OverviewThe Financial Services Commission (FSC) and the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) have been operating an Emergency Financial Situation Room and holding Joint Financial Check-up Meetings as the need arose to monitor the effects of external risk factors such as earthquakes in Japan, unrest in the Middle East and European sovereign risk on domestic financial markets including foreign currency funding and management of domestic banking industry and foreign exchange market*.*Refer to the press release dated 13 March 2011, “Result of Emergency Financial Check-up Meeting in relation to earthquakes in Japan”Foreign currency funding in the wake of earthquakes in JapanAs of March 20, 2011, domestic banks including foreign bank branches operating in Korea raised U$248.8 billion through foreign currency borrowings and deposits, etc. They had U$214.5 billion in foreign currency-denominated assets under management in the forms of foreign currency loans, trade financing and foreign currency securities, etc.Since earthquakes in Japan on 11 March 2011, foreign currency funding*, mostly through foreign currency borrowings, increased by U$1 billion and foreign currency management** increased by U $2.6 billion. The increase of U$1 billion in foreign currency funding since March 11 mostly resulted from domestic banks raising more foreign currency funds.* U$1.8 billion up in foreign currency borrowings, U$800 million down in foreign currency deposits **U$1 billion up in foreign currency loans, U$1 billion up in trade financing, U$600 million up in foreign currency securitiesAn FSS survey of domestic banks and foreign bank branches conducted immediately after the earthquakes broke out in Japan found that there were no signs of capital outflows. Instead, borrowings from headquarters by domestic branches of four Japanese banks increased U$940 million from March 14 to 25 even after the breakout of earthquakes.In addition, funding conditions for domestic banks remained stable af
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Mar 22, 2011
- Financial Measures to Support Normalization of Housing Transactions
- BackgroundIn order to stimulate the depressed housing market last year, the government announced the Aug. 29 measures including the temporary easing of the application of debt-to-income (DTI) ratio for mortgage loans. Since the implementation of the Aug. 29 measures, housing transactions have rebounded while household debt including mortgage loans continuously increased.*apartment transaction volume in Seoul metropolitan area (in thousands): 9.0 (Sept 2010)→12.4 (Oct)→17.5 (Nov)→20. 2 (Dec)→16.0 (Jan 2011)→19.0 (Feb)*mortgage lending (KRW in trillions): 2.6 (average from Jan to Aug 2010)→3.3 (Sept)→3.5 (Oct)→4.4 (Nov)→5.3(Dec)→1.8 (Jan 2011)→2.8 (Feb)Key Contents1. The temporary easing of the application of DTI ratio for mortgage loans will be expired at the end of March as scheduled, and the previously-imposed DTI limit* will be reinstated starting April.*the DTI ratio: 40% for speculative area, 50% for non-speculative area in Seoul, 60% for Incheon and Gyeonggi Province.2. The FSC has also come up with complementary measures to support non-speculative housing transactions.1) The raised cap for microcredit loans (from KRW50 million to KRW100 million), exempted from the DTI regulation, will be maintained to make sure that low-income households have no difficulties financing their housing purchase.2) Preferential treatment of higher lending limit using the DTI ratio will be given towards non-grace-period repayment loans along with fixed-rate loans and principal and interest installment loans.*non-grace-period loans: +5%p*fixed-rate loans: +5%p*principal and interest installment loans: +5%p※For example, for non-speculative Seoul area with 50% DTI application, if a mortgage is given out without a grace period and with fixed-rate principal and interest installments, 65% DTI will be applied.Expected EffectsBy reinstating the DTI regulation, the FSC aims to prevent borrowers from borrowing above their means. With the DTI limit back in place, we exp
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Mar 17, 2011
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Mar 11, 2011
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Feb 23, 2011
- Unfair Trading Investigation Results and Penalties
- Violation of prohibition on market manipulation through the link between spot and futures by KOSPI200 stocks and derivatives trading on November 11, 2010, a KOSPI200 options’ expiry dateCase OverviewAccording to investigation results, AAA1), who is head of Absolute Strategy Group (ASG)- Asia of Deutsche Bank AG Hong Kong Branch, DDD, who is in charge of ASG - Global of New York Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., etc. conspired with EEE, who is managing director of Global Equity Derivatives (GED) at Deutsche Securities Korea, Deutsche Bank AG’s South Korean securities unit, to manipulate market prices in Korean capital markets.They had constructed speculative derivatives positions in advance through the combination of short synthetic futures and long put options. In order to gain profit from these speculative positions, they sold KRW2.4424 trillion (US$ 2.2 billion) worth of stocks listed in the KOSPI200, which they had purchased through index arbitrage trading and held during the last year (2010), in the last ten minutes before the market closed on Nov. 11, 2010, an expiry date for KOSPI200 options.Due to these massive manipulative orders, KOSPI200 index plunged 2.79% (254.62p → 247.51p) and they gained illegal profits of KRW44.87 billion (US$ 40.5 million) from market manipulation through the link between spot and futures (options) transaction.Investigation Activities and Enforcement ProcessA joint investigation team by the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) and the Korea Exchange (KRX) was organized to commence an investigation on Nov. 12, 2010, the next day on which the incident occurred.- Investigation team members: five staffs in Special Investigation Team of the FSS, two staffs in Review Team 3 of the KRX- In-depth investigations were carried out for about two months from Nov. 12, 2010 to Jan. 21, 2011 which included interviews with involved persons and collecting evidences at the Deutsche Bank AG Hong Kong Branch, which placed massive orders to sell, and D
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Feb 21, 2011
- Further Actions Taken on MSB and Support Measures
- The Financial Services Commission (FSC) held a provisional meeting on Saturday, February 19, and decided to suspend operations of four additional savings banks: Busan Central Savings Bank; Busan 2 Savings Bank; Jeonju Savings Bank; and Bohae Savings Bank.Liquidity conditions of these four savings banks were not as bad as the two previously suspended banks (Busan Savings Bank and Daejeon Savings Bank); however, there have been massive deposit withdrawals following the announc ment of the two banks being suspended on February 17, so it became evident that these four savings banks would soon become incapable of paying back their customers’ deposits.An emergency meeting chaired by FSC Chairman Kim Seok-Dong convened this morning in Busan with relevant officials and institutions to discuss plans to minimize the impact of savings banks suspensions on depositors and SMEs in the region, and to provide sufficient liquidity for other savings banks.Participants of the meeting: FSC Chairman, Busan City Mayor, FSS Senior Deputy Governor, KDIC President, KIBO CEO, KODIT CEO, Busan Credit Guarantee Federation CEO, Korea Federation of Savings Banks CEO, IBK CEO, Kookmin Bank CEO, Busan Bank CEO, Nonghyup Credit Agency CEO, Busan Chamber of Commerce Deputy CEO and nine other CEOs of mutual savings banks in the region.Support Measures1. For Savings Banks and DepositorsTo minimize inconveniences of suspended savings banks’ depositors,(1) The government will make sure that depositors can receive provisional payments, a portion of deposits protected by the KDIC, in two weeks of suspensions, a week earlier than the standard procedure.(2) In order to meet depositors’ urgent needs for cash before provisional payments, the government will help them get a deposit-backed loan up to KRW 15 million per person from four commercial banks (Kookmin, NH, IBK and Busan Banks). (3) The government will raise a ceiling on deposit-backed loans up to 80% of deposits to meet additional needs for liqu
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Feb 17, 2011
- Actions Taken for Mutual Savings Banks
- The Financial Services Commission (FSC) held a provisional meeting today and decided to impose 6-month business suspensions for Busan Savings Bank and Daejeon Savings Bank.Busan Savings Bank is affiliated with four other banks: Busan Central Savings Bank; Busan 2 Savings Bank; Daejeon Savings Bank; and Jeonju Savings Bank.Following the outbreak of the financial crisis in 2008 and subsequent real estate recession, financial health of the five savings banks has deteriorated, and as of end-December 2010, Busan Savings Bank’s BIS ratio has fallen to 5.13% while the outstanding liabilities surpass total assets by KRW 21.6 billion resulting in negative equity. Daejeon Savings Bank’s current BIS ratio is -3.18% and its liabilities surpass its assets by KRW 32.3 billion.Daejeon Savings Bank has experienced continued withdrawals of its deposits since D cember2010 and after judging that it is no longer able to payout anymore deposits, it has submitted a formal request for a business suspension to the FSC on February 16, 2011.The FSS plans to start a full investigation today on the suspended savings banks, and actions will be taken to normalize their operations.According to the Act on the Structural Improvement of the Financial Industry, following actions are to be taken for mutual savings banks that failed to meet the 5% BIS requirement.- Below 5% - Business Improvement Recommendation- Below 3% - Business Improvement Request- Below 1% - Business Improvement OrderAside from the two suspended banks, there are five other savings banks that fall short of the 5% BIS requirement: Bohae Savings Bank; Domin Savings Bank; Woori Savings Bank; Saenuri Savings Bank; and Yes Savings Bank, of which three of them: Woori and Saenuri (state-owned) and Yes (held by KDIC) have no difficulties financially. The other two: Bohae and Domin have submitted their business normalization plans and they are making progress. Out of 104 mutual savings banks in operation, apart from the five affiliated
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Jan 11, 2011
- Regulatory Follow-Up Measures For Nov.11 Stock Market Plunge
- BackgroundThe Financial Services Commission (FSC) and Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) have developed measures to improve derivatives-related trading system jointly with the Korea Exchange (KRX) and the Korea Financial Investment Association (KOFIA) based on the investigation of risk management status of financial investment companies and a public hearing held on December 20, 2010 after the stock market plunged on an option expiry day, November 11, 2010.The latest regulatory measures are designed to prevent the recurrence of a similar event on expiry dates of futures and options contracts and mitigate risks arising from derivatives investment by institutional investors, seeking to keep capital markets sounder and more efficient.Regulators are thoroughly investigating and inspecting alleged acts of unfair trading and violations of asset management-related laws that caused a market plunge on the option expiry day and will take appropriate actions against any violation of laws.Investigation updates1. Investigation of alleged acts of unfair tradingThe FSS conducted an on-site investigation in Hong Kong in December 2010 and is currently working to determine if any act of violating the Capital Market and Financial Investment Business Act, including market manipulation, was involved.Any violation of laws will be punished according to laws, if found.2. Examination of Wise Asset ManagementRight after the option shock incident, examiners conducted a probe into Wise Asset Management from November 12 to December 3, 2010 to identify the cause of the incident and check the adequacy of derivatives fund operation and internal control system.Regulators will complete the analysis of the inspection results as soon as possible and proceed to impose sanctions against any violation, if found.3. Risk management in the financial investment industryThe FSS examined financial investment companies to check their risk management status and whether they were in compliance with the margin rul
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Dec 20, 2010
- Proposals to Stimulate Corporate Pension Plans
- BackgroundCorporate pension plans are one of the important financial schemes to help retirees lead a financially stable life after retirement. In order to prepare for the rapidly aging population and supplement insufficient public pension plans, it is necessary to stimulate corporate pension services in Korea. In fact, the development of Korea’s corporate pension system remains lukewarm as corporate sponsors still run a severance pay system in parallel with pension plans and they feel the burden of making contributions to a pension fund managed outside the company.The Financial Services Commission (FSC) and the Ministry of Employment and Labor (MOEL) have come up with the following proposals to reform corporate pension plans, based upon what we have discussed at a T/F, which was created on May 28, 2010 as a public-private partnership with the FSS, the industry and the academia to invigorate pension services and encourage fair competition in the market.Major Reform Plans1. Easing regulations on corporate pension fund managementFor Defined Contribution (DC) plans and Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs), the government will revise related regulations to allow up to 40% of the pension funds to be invested in collective investment securities such as equity-type funds or hybrid funds.**Under current regulations, DC plans and IRAs are forbidden to invest in equity-type or hybrid funds.However, we have decided to continue to prohibit direct investment in equities, considering employees’ limited financial knowledge and asset management capability, and to ensure that pension assets are managed safely.For Defined Benefit (DB) plans, we will keep the current rules of investment ratio (30% for equities, 50% for equity-type or hybrid funds) as the current caps of risk asset investment are sufficient enough to ensure the safe management of the pension funds.With the revision of related regulations, we expect to give pension subscribers a broader range of choices and reflect
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Dec 20, 2010
- Macro-prudential Stability Levy
- BackgroundThe Korean government plans to impose Macro-prudential Stability Levy (“the Levy”) on non-deposit foreign currency liabilities with three motivations.First, the key factor of the past two financial crises in 1997 and 2008 was sudden capital outflows following excessive capital inflows during boom periods. Like many otheremerging and developing countries with a small and open economy, Korea is highly vulnerable to changes in the global economy and sudden capital movements. Of the various capital flows, overseas borrowings are the most volatile, in particular short-term ones. The Korean government, which has reinforced macro-prudential measures toreduce volatility in capital movement within the framework of an open and liberalized economy, now decided to introduce the Levy.Second, the need to curb massive capital inflows in the form of carry trade into Korea is growing as global liquidity has been rapidly increased by Quantitative Easing measures (QE) and the exceptionally low interest rates in advanced countries. A surge of capitalinflows could lead to inflation and asset price bubbles, and a sudden reversal of such inflows could possibly result in a systemic risk.In addition, the Levy will be used as to provide liquidity when necessary to help the Korean economy cope with external shocks.The introduction of the Levy is consistent with the global trend, in particular with the communiqué of the G20 Seoul summit where the leaders have agreed on the need for design and implementation of macro-prudential measures to curb excessive capital flows. Germany, the United Kingdom and France are about to impose the financial levy from January 2011 with the aim of repairing the financial system or procuring resolution fund. Against this backdrop, the Korean government plans to adopt the Levy as a pre-emptive and precautionary measure to stabilize both financial market and economy as a whole.Key characteristics of the Levy1. ImpositionIn order to strengthen macro-pr
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Dec 17, 2010
- Basel III QIS and Its Implications
- The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (“the Committee”) published the results of its comprehensive quantitative impact study (QIS) on December 16, 2010 to ascertain the impact of the Basel III rules on banks’ capital adequacy, leverage and liquidity ratios. A total of 263 banks from 23 of the 27 Committee member jurisdictions participated in the study.In Korea, 8 banks submitted data for the comprehensive QIS including 5 Group 1 banks (Woori, Shinhan, Hana, KB and IBK) and 3 Group 2 banks (Nonghyup, Daegu and Busan).Capital ratios as of year-end 2009Group 1 banks’ average common equity Tier 1 (CET1) capital ratios under the new regime would have sharply fallen from an average gross CET1 capital ratio of 11.1% to 5.7%.This decline is mainly attributable to the new definition of capital deductions and filters not previously applied at the common equity level of Tier 1 capital. For the Group 1 banks, the reduction in CET1 capital is driven primarily by deductions of goodwill, etc.For larger banks (Group 1 banks), the change in net CET1 capital (with deductions) compared to gross CET1 capital (without deductions) amounts to -41.3%. The reduction in C ET1 capital of Group 1 banks from Korea by deductions amounts to 3.2%.In the meantime, CET 1 capital ratio of domestic banks would remain around 10.3% under the Basel III Framework, exceeding a CET1 target level of 7% (including the capital conservation buffer).Average capital ratios by banking group, in percent CET1 Tier 1 Total Change in CET 1 by deductions Gross Net Current New Current New Group 1 Average* 11.1 5.7 10.5 6.3 14.0 8.4 -41.3 Korean banks 11.3 10.3 11.1 10.4 14.7 13.5 -3.2 Group 2 Average* 10.7 7.8 9.8 8.1 12.8 10.3 -24.7 Korean banks 10.4 9.7 10.7 10.0 15.3 13.4 -1.8 *Average of banks from 23 countries Relative to a 7% CET1 level, the capital shortfall for Group 1 banks in the QIS sample is estimated to be €577 billion (KRW880 trillion) under the Basel III requirements (including the capital
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Dec 14, 2010
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Dec 07, 2010
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Dec 02, 2010
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Dec 02, 2010
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Nov 24, 2010
- Results of Emergency Economic Meeting after North Korea's Artillery Firing
- Vice Minister of Strategy and Finance Yim Jong-yong called for an emergency economic meeting* on Wednesday, November 24, a day after North Korea’s attack on Yeonpyeong Island to discuss the attack s impact on domestic and overseas financial markets and policy responses to future developments.*attendees: Vice Minister of Strategy and Finance (chair), Vice Minister of Knowledge Economy, Vice Chairman of Fair Trade Commission, Vice Chairman of Financial Services Commission, Senior Deputy Governor of BOK, Senior Deputy Governor of Financial Supervisory ServiceMarket reactionsAs the news of North Korea’s artillery firing was first reported at around 2:58 pm, right before the market close at 3:00 pm, it did not have a substantial and immediate impact on the stock market. However, after-hour markets including the futures market rattled, showing growing volatility.Right after the outbreak of the incident, Korea’s CDS spreads and Non-Deliverable Forward (NDF) rates sharply soared, but over time there has been no further rise.Potential impactThe attack’s impact on financial markets and the real economy may vary with future developments of the incident; however, as long as the situation does not escalate further, the impact is expected to remain temporary as it did when faced with similar geopolitical risks.Considering Korea’s solid economic recovery, fiscal soundness, current account surplus, and large foreign exchange reserves, to which foreign investors give high credibility, the Korean economy has sufficient capacity to absorb external shocks.Market observers and credit rating agencies assess that the incident would not significantly affect Korea’s sovereign credit ratings. *Moody’s said that North Korea’s attack would not negatively affect Korea’s sovereign credit rating.*Fitch maintained Korea’s sovereign rating at A + with the “stable” outlook.*SP said that the incident would not undermine foreign investment in Korea and other indices affecting K
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Nov 22, 2010
- Countermeasures against KOSPI's Sudden Plunge on Nov. 11
- BackgroundThe KOSPI index plunged 48 points in the last ten minutes before the market closed on November 11, the options expiry date of the month, as foreign investors cleared their arbitrage positions by selling off KRW2.4 trillion worth of shares.Out of the sell-off worth KRW 2.4 trillion, it turned out that 97% of sell orders were made through a single trading desk. We, the FSC/FSS and Korea Exchange, are currently investigating whether the massive sell-off through the brokerage involved any alleged act of unfair trading.We are also probing into a local investment company, WiseAsset, who suffered huge losses from options trading on November 11, with particular focus on any illegality of the company’s asset management and its internal risk management system.Fluctuations in stock prices are inherent part of capital markets; however, severe volatility over a short period of time caused by a few market forces could leave individual investors unprotected and undermine investors’ credibility in Korean capital markets. In this respect, we plan to thoroughly investigate causes of the incident and come up with needed measures to make capital markets in Korea more stable.Upon a thorough investigation on whether there was any act of unfair trading involved and whether the financial investment company properly managed its investment risks, any violation of relevant laws and regulations will be dealt with strict sanctions to prevent a recurrence of a similar event.Measures to comeThe FSC/FSS will thoroughly review vulnerabilities of Korea’s capital markets as revealed on Nov. 11 and take prompt actions to bring immediately needed reforms to the current market system and practices. Depending on the results of the investigations, we will come up with follow-up measures for the longer term. A. Immediate actions1. Strengthening brokerage firms’ settlement risk managementBrokerage firms are exposed to the so-called settlement risk because they are the first to take respons
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Nov 11, 2010
- Global Financial Regulatory Reforms
- 1. Background of the G20 discussions on financial regulatory reformsOn November 15, 2008 in the midst of the global financial crisis, the Leaders of the G20 met for the first time in Washington to enhance international cooperation to restore global economic growth and achieve needed reform in the world’s financial systems. In Washington, the Leaders agreed on five principles for reform and the Action Plan to avoid future crises. The forty seven actions set forth in the Action Plan were mostly targeted to strengthen financial markets and regulatory regimes.Subsequently, at the London Summit on April 2, 2009, the Leaders monitored progress of implementation of the Action Plan agreed in Washington and declared eight major reform agenda. In particular, the Leaders gave a mandate to the Financial Stability Board (FSB) to coordinate global efforts on financial regulatory reforms.At the Pittsburgh Summit on September 25, 2009, the Leaders designated the G20 as the premier forum for international economic cooperation, fully endorsed the implementation standards of the compensation practices proposed by the FSB, and discussed main reform agenda 3 including addressing systemically important financial institutions (SIFIs). The Leaders also agreed on a concrete implementation timeline.At the Toronto Summit in June this year, the Leaders pledged to act together to fulfill the commitment within the timelines agreed to at the Washington, London, and Pittsburgh Summits. In particular, the Leaders agreed to accelerate the original timelines and complete discussions on a new bank capital and liquidity framework and policy recommendations to effectively address problems associated with SIFIs by the Seoul Summit.In accordance with the Leaders’ agreement, the FSB, collaborating with international standard setting bodies such as the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS), has developed a detailed financial regulatory reform package with concrete implementation timelines, which
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Nov 10, 2010
- Proposed amendments to the Enforcement Decree of the Banking Act Approved by Cabinet
- BackgroundPrior to the enforcement of the amended Banking Act*, proposed amendments to the Enforcement Decree of the Banking Act have been approved at the cabinet meeting on November 9. The proposed amendments are to be enforced starting November 18, 2010 after the President’s approval and announcement.* The amended Banking Act, announced on May 17, 2010, is scheduled to be enforced starting November 18, 2010.Key Amendments to the Banking Act Key Contents of the amended Enforcement DecreeA. Banks’ overseas expansionIn principle, banks seeking overseas expansion are allowed to submit a report to the authorities afterwards, except for only those who fall into one of the following categories prescribed by the amended Enforcement Decree.① (bank soundness) a bank’s BIS ratio or its CAMELS rating falls short of required criteria.② (investment method) a bank plans to make investment in or pursue an MA with a below- investment-grade local corporation.③ (business scope) a bank wants to engage in business activities other than banking, concurrently-run, and subsidiary business.④ (investment destination) a bank plans to expand into a below-investment-grade country or a country that has no diplomatic tie with KoreaFurther details are stipulated by the Regulation on Supervision of Banking Business**a bank’s BIS ratio is less than 10%, or its CAMELS rating is below 3; credit ratings of local subsidiaries are below B+; and sovereign ratings of the host country are below B+ etc.B. Disqualifications of outside directorsMost of disqualifying conditions for outside directors set by Best Practice Guidelines on Corporate Governance in Banks (announced in Jan. 2010) were prescribed in the Regulation on Supervision of Banking Business previously and are now to be directly regulated under the amended Banking Act. Details such as definitions of a “corporation which has a special business relationship with a bank”* and a “person who cannot carry out his/her duty faithfu
