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Jul 16, 2009
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May 15, 2009
- FSC Chairman, Dong-Soo Chin Meets Foreign Correspondents
- I. GreetingsDistinguished members of the Seoul Foreign Correspondents’ Club, and ladies and gentlemen,It’s great to be here with you and I thank you for coming.I also thank the Seoul Foreign Correspondents’ Club for helping us arrange today’s meeting and giving me a chance to speak to foreign correspondents about Korea’s policy response to the global financial crisis.It is my hope that today’s meeting will shed new light on recent market and policy developments in Korea and what you can expect going forward in terms of financial policy from the FSC.II. The Financial Crisis and Korea’s ResponsePolicymakers in the U.S. and other major countries have responded aggressively and forcefully to the global financial crisis.With many characterizing the crisis as the worst since the Great Depression, there was more than ample justification for bold policy measures.Korea’s policymakers acted in a similarly bold fashion to cushion the impact of the crisis on the financial system and the broad economy.In terms of financial policy, we had two broad goals to accomplish: safeguarding the financial markets and reinstating the financial sector as the patron for thereal economy.Safeguarding the Financial MarketsAs the financial crisis began to spread around the world, it became clear to us that we had to act swiftly on several fronts to avoid systemic risk, and maintain the stability of the financial markets.To stabilize the foreign currency market, the government provided external debt guarantees for domestic banks and signed currency swap arrangements with major countries.On the other hand, to bring back stability to the financial markets, interest rates were cut and the Bond Market Stabilization Fund was created to increase liquidity and help restore the flow of credit to the real sector.Steps were also taken to prevent market instability due to abrupt capital outflow from the short-term money market.Reinstating the Financial Sector as the Patron for the Real Eco
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Apr 30, 2009
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Apr 09, 2009
- Promotion of Government Bond ETFs
- As a follow up step to the Financial Investment Services Capital Markets Act launched in February this year, the Financial Services Commission has issued an initiative to promote Exchange Trade Funds, or ETFs, by allowing a broader scope of investment; currently, only equity-linked ETFs are being traded in the Korean market. Under the new initiative, a diversified array of products will be traded as in other advanced markets such as the U.S. and the E.U.: i.e. ETFs linked to bonds, commodities, gold and crude oil ETFs, inverse ETFs, leveraged ETF, etc., trading of which will be based on trading prices or index.For the government bond linked ETFs, the FSC will revise current regulations to adjust the required number of principle assets from minimum 10 items to 3 items.The FSC believes that such market-friendly steps will result in favorable market response particularly among small private investors and foreign investors, encouraging their active partaking in the government bond trading. This is expected to have positive impacts on the market by stimulating the government bond issuance and the overall trading markets.For the successful launch of new ETFs, the FSC will also revise ‘Financial Investment Act’ and ‘IPO Operation Code ’ of the Korea Stock Exchange by May or June this year.* Please refer to the attached PDF for details.
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Mar 20, 2009
- Bank Recapitalization Fund's Execution Blueprint
- The Bank Recapitalization Fund Oversight Committee has unveiled its third blueprint as to the basic guidelines for the first round of purchasing banks’ hybrid bonds and subordinate bonds scheduled at the end of March. The purchasing criteria will be determined based on the current and past interest rates, and the interest spread for those bonds.Also, the government evaluated the progress banks have made based on the Fund’s policy objectives and the progress of subject banks’ implementation of their MOU commitment, prerequisite to the government guarantee on their external debts.As for regional banks, to account for the considerable discrepancy in thier credit ratings as opposed to nation-wide banks, 30bp difference will be assumed.The Korea Exchange Bank has informed the FSC that it would not use its credit line for issuing hybrid bonds but would go ahead as planned with issuing subordinate bonds (KRW 250 billion).The first round of bond purchasing will be implemented at the end of March after receiving banks’ application to sell their bonds during the month.Based on the result of the market survey, it is expected that the first round will total approximately KRW 3.8 trillion for hybrid bonds and KRW 0.5 trillion for subordinate bonds.The fund will be operated via a “matching” method in which the fund amount will be set to match the amount in demand in accordance with the needs in supporting the real economic sectors, corporate restructuring, and foreign currency markets.By monitoring the progress the participating banks have made with their implementation of the MoU, those who have inadequately served their commitment to supporting the real economic sectors and other preconditions to the Fund, several countermeasures could be applied to them such as limiting their access amount and raising applicable interest rates.* Please refer to the attached PDF for details.
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Mar 18, 2009
- FSC Meets the Press and Investors in London
- Headed by the Vice Chairman, Dr. Rhee Chang Yong, the FSC delegates met with representatives from major British media and financial institutions in London on Friday, March 13, 2009.ParticipantsPress: The Economist, the Financial Times, Reuters, BBCFinancial Institutions: HSBC, Barclays Capital, Standard Chartered, Duetsche BankThe main mission of the seminar was, before the impending G-20 Summit meeting in London, to update its local press and financial communities on Korea’s current economic and financial positions by providing detailed data.This has provided opportunities to set up communication channel with influential media such as BBC, the Economist, the Financial Times, and Reuters.For clear communication on Korean economy and financial markets, the FSC has set up bi-weekly teleconferences with the media and foreign investors, and this fact was also delivered at the meetings. Key Points DiscussedThe FSC addressed major issues raised by the media and investors: foreign debt, liquidity in foreign currency, mortgage loans, impact of Eastern European market risks on Korea, and business prospects for Korean shipbuilding companies.The FSC delegates stressed the importance for advanced economies to stand firmly by the Free-Market Principles not regressing to trade protectionism. Also was emphasized the need for G-20 countries to have a portion of massive liquidity injection accessible to emerging market countries.Regarding Fitch’s Stress Test results, the FSC expressed its regret on behalf of the Korean government and bank industry, that the results based on extreme speculation on the banking sector were actually reported by the press.The FSC engaged in talks with the Bank of England and financial experts regarding policy efforts in both jurisdictions for crisis management.The FSC called for wider and fairer coverage of Korean economy, which is often surmised in a package with emerging economies in the Asian region.A view was shared among the participants that th
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Mar 13, 2009
- Fitch Ratings' Stress Test
- 1. Summary of Fitch Ratings’stress test on Korean banksGlobal credit rating agency, Fitch Ratings, announced the results of its stress test on Korean banks on Thursday, March 12th at around 22:00 (Seoul time).A summary of the stress test results is as follows:Under a stress scenario during the period from June 2008 through December 2010, Korean banks would see a decline in capitalization totaling KRW 42 trillion due to credit costs, losses on equity and debt securities holdings and asset growth through the inflation of foreign currency assets given the depreciation of the Korean won in the past year.The banks’ combined equity-to-assets ratio would decline from 6.4 percent in June 2008 to 4.0 percent in December 2010.The KRW 42 trillion reduction in capitalization would require additional capital raisings by the banks, and such capital may have to come from the government. The government’s current KRW 20 trillion Bank Recapitalization Fund may not be sufficient, particularly to the extent it is used to buy subordinated debt and lower quality hybrid debt from the banks.2. Government’s response to the stress test resultsA. The results of the stress test are based on variables and assumptions (e.g. estimated loss rates on bonds and securities), which can be easily altered by future economic events. Therefore, the government finds it inappropriate for Fitch to release such speculative results on Korean banks when this could adversely impact their international credibility and financial soundness.B. Even if the worst possible scenario were to be materialized, in which the expected loss of 42 trillion won were to be taken into account and no new recapitalization were to be assumed, the tangible common equity (TCE) ratio of Korean banks would be 4.0 percent as of the end of 2010, which would be still higher than the current TCE ratios of major leading banks worldwide. The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) ratio would be 8.7 percent, still higher than th
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Mar 06, 2009
- FSC Article Published in AWSJ
- By Rhee ChangyoungSEOUL—South Korea, like all other advanced economies, has inevitably been affected by the financial-market turmoil seeping the globe. Yet the precise nature of these effects on our economy has too often been misunderstood. Some commentators claim that Korea is facing another major financial crisis similar to what it experienced during the Asian financial crisis. This is untrue, and it is important to set the record straight.The Korean economy is often inaccurately characterized as weak because of its external debt. It is true that Korea’s total external debt up for repayment within 2009 is $194 billion. But $39 billion of that amount is considered non-obligatory debt, such as foreign-exchange hedging and advanced payment receipts for ship orders that will clear off the books when the ships are delivered. Korea’s net external debt totals $155 billion, or 77% of Korea’s foreign reserves of $201.5 billion as of last month. The current roll-over ratio of foreign debt as of February is over 91%. Inother words, our banks and corporations are experiencing no problems repaying or refinancing their debts. Looking at the banking sector alone, out of total external debt of $171.7 billion as of the end of 2008, debt held by branches of foreign banks accounts for $72.3 billion, which does not affect the solvency of domestic banks. The actual amount of external debt held by domestic banks as of the end of 2008 is $99.4 billion—only half of Korea’s foreign reserves.Nonetheless, some market commentators have openly expressed their pessimism. Perhaps such pessimism might be traced back to Korea’s 1997 crisis and the fear that it may be repeated. Such a possibility, however, is slim. The Korean economy today is very different from what it was a decade ago.First, the corporate sector whose debts helped trigger the Asian financial crisis in Korea has been transformed, and is now sound and transparent. The ratio of corporate debt to equity, for instance,
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Feb 27, 2009
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Feb 24, 2009
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Feb 09, 2009
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Feb 05, 2009
- Korea Economy Overview
- Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to welcome all of you and thank you for taking the time to be with us today.My presentation today largely consists of three parts.Firstly, I will give you a brief overview of Korea’s real economy and financial market and move on to talk about newly emerging risk factors in the Korean economy and their effect on the economy.Then, I will close by introducing how the Korean government is responding to the economic challenges.Now, let me start with the current status of the Korean economy and financial market.First of all, let me talk to you about the current status of Korea’s real economy.As some foreign investors are concerned, it is true that Korea’s real economy is fast deteriorating. Domestic demand is slowing down rapidly with 19.8 percent fall in December industrial output from a year earlier as well as 7.0 percent decline in consumer goods sales. Exports in December also fell by 17.9 percent year-on-year (by 29 percent according to the estimation for the period from Jan. 1 to Jan. 20).However, let me emphasize that such economic slowdown is not limited to Korea and is witnessed commonly around the world following the global financial crisis. The Korean economy is doing rather well compared to other Asian countries like Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore.If we compare December industrial output, Korea saw 19.8 percent fall while Taiwan and Singapore suffered 32.4 percent and 13.5 percent decline respectively. Even in terms of export, which is one of the main causes of concern, we see that Taiwan and Singapore have recorded greater fall than Korea with 41.9 percent and 20.8 percent decline respectively.Moreover, Korea is maintaining relatively low unemployment rate of 3.3 percent as of last December.However, things are looking better in the financial market. To our relief, the global financial market volatility has eased slightly, improving investor confidence and financial stability in Korea.The Korean stock market has recent
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Jan 28, 2009
- Understanding Korean Economy (FAQs)
- Q1: How has Korea reacted to the economic difficulties so far?A: The Korean government has worked on expansionary liquidity supply of USD55 billion, tax reduction of USD35 billion, and increased fiscal expenditure of USD16 billion.The Korean government has taken preventive, decisive and sufficient policy measures to get out of the global economic turmoil. The measures mainly cover liquidity supply, FX market stabilization, and tax reduction and expansionary fiscal expenditure. To provide more liquidity in the market and lower interest rates, the Bank of Korea lowered a benchmark interest rate four times by 225bp from 5.25 percent to 3.00 percent. Also, the government has supplied the liquidity of KWR19,500 billion through RP purchases and credit limit raise for small- and medium- sized enterprises (SMEs).Foreign liquidity supply of USD55 billion will have been provided with USD37.6 billion already provided by the end of Dec. ’08. Currency swap arrangements with the US, Japan, and China, amounting to USD30 billion each, have been completed along with the IMF Short-term Liquidity Facility of USD22 billion fixed. The government guarantee on banks’ borrowing in foreign currencies will total USD100 billion.A total of USD35 billion tax reduction will have been implemented from ’08 to ’12 through an oil tax rebate and income/corporate tax reduction. Additional budgets of USD16 billion will have been allocated from ’08 to ’09, which are earmarked for overcoming economic difficulties including high energy prices.Deregulations to boost corporate investment, various job maintenance efforts such as promoting employment of female, the young and old, and social safety net reinforcement are among other measures the Korean government has taken.Q2: What are the key economic policies for 2009? A: The key economic polices for 2009 can be summarized as preparation for the future and job creation. The Korean government will take offensive measures to revitalize the economy a
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Dec 22, 2008
- Amendments to Accounting Standards for FX Translation
- The Financial Services Commission (FSC), The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), and The Korean Accounting Standards Board (KASB) have agreed to implement a set of measures namely, "Amendments to Accounting Standards for FX Translation." The FSC and the FSS had been engaged in close consultations with market participants such as companies with large foreign debts, financial institutions, and accounting experts regarding the issue of accounting standard of FX translation and transactions. The proposal was affirmed at the Economic and Financial Meeting on December 19, 2008.I. Background● Due to the recent surge of won-foreign exchange rate Korean companies are experiencing huge FX translation losses in their annual report.* When FX rate increases by KRW 100, companies' FX translation loss and debt each increases by KRW 5trn. (based on US$ 50.16bn of domestic companies' foreign borrowings from foreign exchange banks)▶As a result of the drastic rise of the FX rate, Korean companies are exposed to adverse business environments such as downgrading on their credit ratings, early debts redemption, an increase in financial costs, and difficulty with obtaining new credit lines.▶If this situation sustains, financial institutions will have to suffer deteriorating BIS capital adequacy ratio and reduction in their corporate loan facilities. Consequently, this will further prolong the process of economic recovery from the current crisis.●Therefore, it had been deemed necessary to take timely actions to minimize financial burdens on companies and financial institutions, especially those related to accounting standards.II. Way Forward1. Listed Companies and Large Unlisted CompaniesA. Permission of Revaluation on Property Plant and Equipment (PPE)●(As-Is) Revaluation of PPE has not been permitted since 2001, and asset value increases for the past decade have not been reflected on the books.* Fair Valuation permitted in IFRS (IAS 16)●(Improvement) Revaluation of real esta
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Dec 04, 2008
- Fn Hub Korea to Support Employment of Overseas Financial Expert
- On December 4, 2008 Fn Hub Korea* launched a program, which supports theemployment of financial experts working in overseas financial companies, to helpincrease the competitiveness of the domestic financial industry.* Fn Hub Korea was established on September 9, 2008, under the Financial HubFormation and Development Act, to assist foreign financial firms already active orstarting a new business in Korea, to help domestic financial companies expandoverseas, and to improve the business environment related to financial business inKorea.The program supports the recruitment, by financial companies in Korea, of financialexperts working in overseas financial companies, such as investment banks.It aims to help meet the demand for capital market experts, the demand can be attributedto the upcoming February 2009 enactment of the Financial Investment Services Capital Market Act, while also bringing in the necessary human resources to transformKorea into a financial hub.Fn Hub Korea will create a database, after receiving the necessary employmentinformation from financial companies, while also developing a system where financialexperts, who wish to transfer or find employment in Korea, will be connected to theirpreferred workplace after uploading their employment requests to Fn Hub Korea’shomepage (www.fnhubkorea.kr).Please refer to the attached file “Overseas Financial Expert Employment SupportProcedure” for a detailed outline of the recruitment process.*Please refer to the attachedPDF for details.
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Nov 25, 2008
- The Global Financial Crisis & Korea’s Policy Response
- IGE/IMF International Conference Luncheon RemarksThe Global Financial Crisis Korea’s Policy ResponseDr. Jun Kwang-Woo Chairman Financial Services CommissionGREETINGSDistinguished guests, and ladies and gentlemen,I am delighted to be with you this afternoon, and I thank IGE Chairman Kim Pyung-Joo and President Lee Young-Tak and Dr. Mahmood Pradhan from the IMF for organizing today’s conference and inviting me to speak. I also thank speakers and distinguished participants who are with us today.In light of the deepening distress in the global financial markets, today’s conference, entitled “Lessons from the Recent Global Financial Crisis: Its Implications for the World and Korea,” is both timely and of great interest to every one of us.So I am glad to join you and share with you my perspectives on how the financial crisis emerged, what lessons we can draw from it, and where we go from here. GLOBAL FINANCIAL CRISIS KOREAN ECONOMYThe global financial crisis started with collapsing asset prices followed by a debilitating credit crunch. Expansive monetary policy by the U.S. Federal Reserve since 2001 and a surge in foreign capital inflow since 2004 kept interest rates at record low levels.Financial deregulation also swept across the major developed countries beginning in the 1980s. During this time, capital market liberalization also picked up the pace among the emerging countries.This process ultimately led to sharp increases in financial institutions’ leveraged activities and asset inflation. In particular, as financial institutions increasingly employed aggressive asset securitization and complex derivatives to sustain high profit growth, a host of new risks began to weigh on the financial system. For their part, regulators did not fully grasp the situation and preempt the risks. And the global nature of the financial system meant that the systemic risks would be felt and shared by markets around the world.Domestic financial marketsWe are now getting clear i
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Nov 19, 2008
- The Korea Investors’ Forum in London and New York Held by The Financial Services Commission.
- The Korea Investors’ Forum was held by the Financial Services Commission (FSC) on the 17th of November at the Landmark Hotel in London, and then on the 18th at the New York Palace Hotel in New York. They have been done in collaboration with the private sector including the Korea Exchange (Jung-Hwan Lee, CEO) and Samsung Securities (Jun-Hyun Park, President). The purpose of these events was to promote the Korean economy and the financial market to the foreign investors in advanced economies.Chairman of FSC, Kwang-Woo Jun attended the presentation held in New York on the 18th about investing in the Korean financial market to make a keynote speech on the liquidity of foreign currency, the soundness of banks, as well as on concerns over potential risks of SMEs and household (residential) debt. An analysis of objective statistics and indicators was used to minimize both the domestic and overseas concerns over the Korean economy.The guarantee of external debts, the supply of additional liquidity by the government and the BOK, and the 33 trillion won fiscal expansionary package was explained as a few of the preemptive measures put in place by the government; emphasizing the healthy macroeconomics of the country and the resilient economic fundamentals of its financial market.Furthermore, Korea’s entrance into the FTSE Developed Index as well as the entrance into the Global Dow Jones Developed Index was explained in proving the advancement made by the Korean financial market through recognition of its sovereign credibility. A request to promote such achievements by investing more into the Korean market was made. 1. Korea Investors’ ForumThe Korea Investors’ Forum held in London and New York on the 17th and 18th of November were done in an IR setting composed of an official luncheon followed by one-on-one meetings between individual corporations and institutional investors.This joint IR was held in collaboration with the FSC and the Korea Exchange, supported by Samsun
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Nov 14, 2008
- Reporters' Discussion Points with Chairman of the Financial Services Commission
- 1. Recent Market Conditions International Markets- The global markets seem to be stabilizing after the announcement of the U.S. government’s bailout plan and the currency swap agreements signed between the key nations around the world.- Some uncertain elements still exist in the market which are expected to remain until the first quarter of 2009.- With regards to hedge funds managed by major institutional investors, there are likely to be adjustments made to the portfolios early next year which are likely to lead to swift changes in sovereign credit ratings around the globe.Domestic Markets- In response to the crisis, the Korean government utilizing all its resources and departments including the Bank of Korea (BOK), and the regulatory bodies has made devoted efforts to stabilize the domestic financial market.- To provide foreign currency liquidity to financial institutions, - We have carried out a list of actions; guaranteeing external debt payments by local banks; providing foreign currency liquidity using the Swap market; and supporting export financing through the EXIM Bank.- With respect to providing liquidity of domestic currency,- The BOK has acted aggressively by lowering the interest rate 3 times since October 9th, totaling 125bp, and expanding the number of RP receivers.- These efforts have cleared an opening in the flow of funds and has dissolved the liquidity freeze.- However, we are in a phase of a frictional credit freeze because of the lack of liquidity still in local funds.- As a result of the economic slowdown, worries of insolvency in weak segments of the economy are increasing market uncertainty.- Thus, the propensity of investors to be risk adverse is freezing the liquidity of corporate bonds and ABCP.⇒ To summarize the current situation and to put it figuratively, a blood transfusion is given to an anemic patient, but due to the hardening of the arteries, the blood is being prevented from spreading throughout the body.2. Direction of Counter
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Nov 03, 2008
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Oct 30, 2008
- A Decision to Reinforce the Elimination of Malignant Rumors in the Stock Market
- In early September, the Financial Services Commission partnered with other stock market related government agencies to form a Joint Countermeasure Task Force to tackle the recent widespread circulation of malignant rumors regarding the Korean stock market. An unspecified number of rumors have caused an increase in the Korea Exchange to request public inquiries of corporations to verify the nature of the rumors. Moreover, the rumors have been thought not only to disturb the fair trading environment but also to have been the sources for the plunge in certain stocks. There is also suspicion that reports containing negative outlooks from foreign analysts are connected to the initiation of short-selling and market correction. Many of these rumors have been found to be without grounds, thus causing greater concern and sparking the urgency for the development of countermeasures to seek and prevent the sources of the rumors.Implementation Plan1. Joint Countermeasure Task Force● The Expansion of the Countermeasure TeamThe Countermeasure Team which was previously run solely by the FinancialSupervisory Service (FSS) has been expanded and renamed as the JointCountermeasure Task Force to include the cooperation of the Korea SecuritiesDealers Association (KSDA), the Korea Listed Companies Association (KLCA),and the KOSDAQ Listed Companies Association (KOSDAQCA) as of September,2008.According to interviews with market analysts and personnel from the exchange, thetask force is proving to be effective in the prevention of malignant rumors.●The Operation of Call CentersSeveral call centers have been put in place to receive reports on malignant rumors,with rewards provided for genuine leads on rumors that are potentially harmful andwithout grounds.The FSS is responsible for investigating the sources of rumors and monitoringpress releases, analyst reports, various investment websites, and the actualexchange floor.Corporations have been requested to actively make voluntary public re
