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Nov 13, 2023
- Campaign to Return KRW17.9 Trillion in Unclaimed Financial Assets Begins
- The Financial Services Commission announced that a campaign to return unclaimed or dormant financial assets worth about KRW17.9 trillion to financial consumers will begin on November 13 for six weeks until December 22 with participation from all financial sectors. Unclaimed financial assets, such as dormant financial accounts, inactive financial accounts (for more than 3 years) and card points (cash back rewards, etc.), amounted to KRW1.6 trillion, KRW13.6 trillion and KRW2.6 trillion, respectively, for a total of KRW17.9 trillion as of the end of June 2023. In this year, the number of financial institutions participating in the campaign has been expanded as the mutual finance sector will also join the joint campaign effort. In addition, this year, consumers will be able to see if there are any remaining balances on their securities investment accounts alongside other types of unclaimed financial assets from checking and savings accounts, insurance benefits or card points. Access to unclaimed financial assets is available on the internet (fine.fss.or.kr) or on the Account Info mobile app. The financial authorities will continue to upgrade the dormant financial account management system to help consumers to more easily and conveniently search and claim their dormant assets. * Please refer to the attached file for details.
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Nov 08, 2023
- Household Loans, October 2023
- The outstanding balance of household loans across all financial sectors increased KRW6.3 trillion in October 2023 (preliminary), rising at a faster rate compared to the previous month. * Change (%, y-o-y): +0.1 (Apr 2023), +2.6 (May), +3.2 (Jun), +5.2 (Jul), +6.1 (Aug), +2.4 (Sep), +6.3 (Oct) (By Type) Mortgage loans grew at a somewhat slower rate while other types of loans expanded at a faster pace. Home-backed mortgage loans rose KRW5.2 trillion as nonbanks saw a drop of KRW0.6 trillion and the pace of growth in the banking sector also declined from KRW6.1 trillion a month ago to KRW5.8 trillion. Other types of loans rose KRW1.1 trillion with a low base effect from the previous month (down KRW3.3 trillion). (By Sector) Household loans expanded more rapidly in the banking sector while the pace of decline in the nonbanking sector slowed from a month ago. Banks saw an increase of KRW6.8 trillion of household loans in October, going up from KRW4.8 trillion a month ago. Mortgage loans went up KRW5.8 trillion in the banking sector, mainly led by policy mortgage loans. Other types of loans rose KRW1.0 trillion in the banking sector with credit loans edging up KRW1.2 trillion from a drop of KRW1.3 trillion in the previous month due to seasonal factors such as moving season and demand for IPO subscription. In the nonbanking sector, household loans dropped KRW0.5 trillion overall, showing a slowing pace of decline from the previous month (down KRW2.5 trillion). Specialized credit finance businesses (up KRW0.7 trillion), insurance companies (up KRW0.4 trillion) and savings banks (up KRW0.1 trillion) saw household loans going up, while mutual finance businesses continued to see a decline (down KRW1.7 trillion). Although the accelerated pace of household loan growth in October appears to be caused by a low base effect from a month ago, the financial authorities will continue to closely monitor trends and ensure close management of the growth level. Meanwhile, the authorities p
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Oct 16, 2023
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Oct 12, 2023
- Household Loans, September 2023
- The outstanding balance of household loans across all financial sectors rose KRW2.4 trillion in September 2023 (preliminary), growing at a slower rate than the previous month. Compared to a year ago, household loans dropped 0.3 percent. * Change (in trillion KRW): +0.2 (Apr 2023), +2.8 (May), +3.5 (Jun), +5.3 (Jul), +6.1 (Aug), +2.4 (Sep) (By Type) Home mortgage loans continued to grow but at a slower rate, while other types of loans fell at an expanded level. Mortgage loans rose KRW5.7 trillion overall with a fall of KRW0.4 trillion in the nonbanking sector and an increase of KRW6.1 trillion in the banking sector. Mortgage loans from banks expanded at a slower rate compared to the previous month (up KRW7.0 trillion). Other types of loans dropped KRW3.3 trillion overall with declines seen from both the banking (down KRW1.3 trillion) and nonbanking (down KRW2.1 trillion) sectors. (By Sector) Household loans grew at a slower rate in the banking sector, while decreasing at a faster rate in the nonbanking sector. Banks saw a rise of KRW4.9 trillion of household loans in September, down from an increase of KRW6.9 trillion in the previous month. Mortgage loans in the banking sector grew KRW6.1 trillion overall with group lending for new apartment subscription (up KRW0.3 trillion) and jeonse loans (up KRW0.1 trillion) going up at slightly faster rates and individual mortgage loans (up KRW3.6 trillion) and policy mortgage loans (up KRW2.1 trillion) rising at slower rates. Other types of loans declined KRW1.3 trillion as credit loans dropped at a faster rate (down KRW1.2 trillion). Household loans in the nonbanking sector dropped KRW2.5 trillion overall, edging down at a faster rate than the previous month (down KRW0.8 trillion). Insurance companies (up KRW0.3 trillion) saw an increase in household loans, but mutual financial companies (down KRW1.9 trillion), savings banks (down KRW0.1 trillion) and specialized credit finance businesses (down KRW0.8 trillion) all saw drops i
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Oct 10, 2023
- KoFIU Unveils H1 2023 Survey Result on Virtual Asset Service Providers
- The Korea Financial Intelligence Unit (KoFIU) conducted a survey on 35 registered virtual asset service providers (VASPs) to see the current state of the domestic virtual asset market and keep relevant statistics up to date. Survey Overview (Respondents) 35 VASPs (26 exchange service providers and 9 other businesses) (Survey Method) Data collected from VASPs (Period Covered) January 1, 2023 to June 30, 2023 Key Survey Findings for H1 2023 The domestic market for virtual assets in H1 2023 saw increases in terms of market capitalization, deposit (in KRW) and the exchange service providers operating profits as virtual asset prices rose and investment sentiment recovered. Among 21 coin-only exchange service providers, continuing business operation appears to be difficult for 10 of them as they showed no record of sales from transaction fees. The market capitalization at the end of June 2023 stood at KRW28.4 trillion, up 46 percent from KRW19.4 trillion at the end of 2022. In the same period, the amount of deposits (in KRW) also increased to KRW4.0 trillion, up 11 percent from KRW3.6 trillion at the end of 2022. The operating profits of VASPs amounted to KRW227.3 billion in the first half of 2023, up 82 percent from KRW124.9 billion during the previous six months. According to the survey, the frequency of new coin listings and trading suspensions (due to delisting) also increased. There were 169 new virtual asset listings in the first half of 2023, up 128 percent from 74 new listings in the previous six months. The number of delisted coins also rose during the same period from 78 in H2 2022 to 115 in H1 2023. There were 622 different types of virtual assets being circulated in the domestic market in H1 2023 and 366 of them were virtual assets listed exclusively by single exchange service providers. Despite a recovery seen in the virtual asset market, the volume of domestic virtual asset transactions and the number of users declined somewhat. Between H2 2022 and H1 2023,
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Oct 04, 2023
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Oct 03, 2023
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Sep 13, 2023
- Household Loans, August 2023
- The outstanding balance of household loans across all financial sectors rose KRW6.2 trillion in August 2023 (preliminary), going up for the fifth consecutive month. Compared to the same month of the previous year, household loans dropped 0.5 percent. * Change (in trillion KRW): -5.1 (Feb 2023), -5.1 (Mar), +0.2 (Apr), +2.8 (May), +3.5 (Jun), +5.3 (Jul), +6.2 (Aug) (By Type) Home mortgage loans continued to grow but other types of loans fell at a greater pace. Mortgage loans rose KRW6.6 trillion overall with a drop of KRW0.4 trillion in the nonbanking sector and an increase of KRW7.0 trillion in the banking sector. Other types of loans decreased KRW0.4 trillion as banks and nonbanks both saw drops of KRW0.1 trillion and KRW0.3 trillion, respectively. sector. Banks saw a rise of KRW6.9 trillion of household loans in August, an increase for five straight months. Home mortgage loans went up KRW7.0 trillion in the banking sector, despite a fall of KRW0.1 trillion in jeonse loans, as individual mortgage loans (up KRW4.1 trillion), policy mortgage loans (up KRW2.7 trillion) and group lending for new apartment subscription (up KRW0.2 trillion) all went up. Other types of loans dropped KRW0.1 trillion as credit loans grew (up KRW0.03 trillion) at a slower pace. Household loans in the nonbanking sector declined KRW0.7 trillion overall. Insurance companies and specialized credit finance businesses saw increases of KRW0.3 trillion and KRW0.6 trillion, respectively, while mutual finance companies and savings banks saw drops of KRW1.5 trillion and KRW0.1 trillion, respectively. Household loans continued to grow in August led by home mortgage loans in the banking sector. By encouraging lenders to carry out credit evaluation based on individual borrowers payment capability and conducting on-site inspections on banks household loans, the authorities will work to ensure stable management of household loans throughout the second half of this year. * Please refer to the attached file f
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Sep 11, 2023
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Sep 08, 2023
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Sep 06, 2023
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Aug 09, 2023
- Household Loans, July 2023
- The outstanding balance of household loans across all financial sectors rose KRW5.4 trillion in July 2023 (preliminary), going up for the fourth consecutive month. Compared to the same month last year, household loans dropped 0.8 percent. * Change (in trillion KRW): -8.1 (Jan 2023), -5.1 (Feb), -5.1 (Mar), +0.2 (Apr), +2.8 (May), +3.5 (Jun), +5.4 (Jul) (By Type) Home-backed mortgage loans grew at a slower pace but the pace of decline in other types of loans also slowed. Mortgage loans rose KRW5.6 trillion, despite a decline of KRW0.4 trillion in the nonbanking sector, as banks saw a rise of KRW6.0 trillion. Other types of loans fell KRW0.2 trillion as both banks and nonbanks saw drops of KRW0.01 trillion and KRW0.2 trillion, respectively. (By Sector) Household loans rose in the banking sector but declined in the nonbanking sector. Banks saw a rise of KRW6.0 trillion of household loans in July, which went up for the fourth straight month. Home mortgage loans went up KRW6.0 trillion in the banking sector as individual mortgage loans (up KRW3.9 trillion) and policy mortgage loans (up KRW2.4 trillion) increased. Jeonse loans (down KRW0.2 trillion) and group lending for new apartment subscription (down KRW0.1 trillion) declined. Other types of loans fell KRW0.01 trillion in the banking sector. Household loans in the nonbanking sector declined KRW0.6 trillion due to a drop of KRW1.6 trillion in the mutual finance sector, although insurance companies (up KRW0.5 trillion), savings banks (up KRW0.1 trillion) and specialized credit finance businesses (up KRW0.5 trillion) saw growths. As the growth of household loans has been picking up since April with the volume of housing transactions recovering recently, the financial authorities will closely monitor trends in household loans and work to prepare preemptive measures to stably manage the growth of household loans. * Please refer to the attached file for details.
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Jul 19, 2023
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Jul 12, 2023
- Household Loans, June 2023
- The outstanding balance of household loans across all financial sectors went up KRW3.5 trillion in June 2023 (preliminary), rising for the third consecutive month. Compared to the same month last year, household loans fell 1.2 percent. * Change (in trillion KRW): -3.4 (Dec 2022), -8.1 (Jan 2023), -5.1 (Feb), -5.1 (Mar), +0.2 (Apr), +2.8 (May), +3.5 (Jun) (By Type) Home-backed mortgage loans edged up for four months in a row but other types of loans declined at a faster pace in June. Mortgage loans rose KRW6.4 trillion, with a drop of KRW0.6 trillion in the nonbanking sector and an increase of KRW7.0 trillion in the banking sector. Other types of loans fell KRW2.9 trillion as both banks and nonbanks saw drops of KRW1.1 trillion and KRW1.8 trillion, respectively. (By Sector) Household loans rose in the banking sector but declined in the nonbanking sector. Banks saw a rise of KRW5.9 trillion of household loans in June, which went up for the third straight month. Home mortgage loans went up KRW7.0 trillion in the banking sector as individual mortgage loans (up KRW3.7 trillion), policy mortgage loans (up KRW2.6 trillion), jeonse loans (up KRW0.1 trillion) and group lending for new apartment subscription (up KRW0.7 trillion) all increased. Other types of loans fell KRW1.1 trillion due to a drop in credit loans (down KRW0.9 trillion). The growth of mortgage loans in the banking sector seems to be caused by rising supply of special Bogeumjari Loan for non-speculative homebuyers and housing transactions rebounding in certain areas. However, as the volume of housing transactions is yet to bounce back to the level seen in previous years and with a significant number of mortgage borrowers taking out loans to return jeonse deposit money or for living expenses, the current pace of growth in home mortgage loans is not at an alarming level as to cause overheated speculation in the housing market. Nonbanks saw a drop of KRW2.4 trillion in household loans with a slight increase in th
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Jun 27, 2023
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Jun 26, 2023
- KRW300 Billion Fund to be Newly Created to Enhance Competitiveness of Semiconductor Industry
- FSC Vice Chairman Kim So-young held the 3rd consultative body meeting on policy finance support with the relevant government ministries and policy financial institutions on June 26. At the meeting, authorities checked the progress of funding supply to five major strategic sectors between January and May this year and discussed offering a preferential funding supply process for outstanding businesses in each industrial sector. Between January and May 2023, policy financial institutions such as the Korea Development Bank, the Industrial Bank of Korea and the Korea Credit Guarantee Fund supplied a total of KRW46.3 trillion in funding support to the five major strategic industrial sectors, which amounted to about 50.5 percent of the total of KRW91 trillion targeted for the whole year. At the meeting, authorities also discussed ways to select outstanding businesses in each industrial sector in order to more effectively provide targeted funding support for businesses that fit the direction of the governments industrial policy strategies. In this regard, a comprehensive checklist has been prepared for selecting outstanding businesses and the checklist-qualified enterprises will be eligible to receive the benefit of a fast-tracked credit evaluation process. After having an inter-ministerial consultation process, authorities have already prepared a checklist on eleven industrial sectorsfor now and plan to review whether to expand the eligibility to additional industrial sectors in the future when drawing up a policy finance support plan for 2024. Prior to todays meeting, Vice Chairman Kim and First Vice Minister of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy Jang Youngjin held an agreement ceremony to launch a KRW300 billion worth of fund intended to make targeted investments in the domestic semiconductor ecosystem along with key chip makers and policy financial institutions. The newly created fund will invest in semiconductor materials, parts and equipment manufacturing busi
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Jun 21, 2023
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Jun 15, 2023
- FSC Holds Financial Cooperation Forum with Thailand and Attends IOSCO Annual Meeting
- The Financial Services Commission held the Korea-Thailand Financial Cooperation Forum and attended the 48th annual meeting of the International Organization of Securities Commission (IOSCO) held in Bangkok, Thailand on June 12-15. Korea-Thailand Financial Cooperation Forum The FSC held the Korea-Thailand Financial Cooperation Forum with the Bank of Thailand and the Council on International Financial Cooperation on June 13. The forum was attended by about a hundred regulatory authorities and relevant officials from both countries, and the participants held discussions on (a) the current status of financial markets and banking industry in both countries and (b) ways to increase bilateral cooperation on financial innovation and development. At the forum, Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) Standing Commissioner Kim Jeong-kag of the FSC delivered congratulatory remarks and talked about the importance of bilateral cooperation between the two countries. In his speech, Standing Commissioner Kim said that Koreas experience with online-only banks, open banking and financial MyData services can offer valuable examples regarding digital transformation of the financial sector and that Korean financial institutions are very much willing to participate and contribute to Thailands virtual banking initiative. IOSCO Annual Meeting The FSC and the FSS attended the 48th IOSCO annual meeting held on June 12-15. At this years meeting, the member countries held discussions on various capital market issues such as sustainable finance, managing fund liquidity risks, private equity financing, leveraged loans and collateralized loan obligations (CLOs). Regarding the issue of the IOSCO Board officially endorsing the sustainability disclosure standards prepared by the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB), the Korean delegation agreed with the suggestion for endorsement in principle but added that due to different regulatory and industry preparation in each member country, th
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Jun 09, 2023
- Household Loans, May 2023
- The outstanding balance of household loans (preliminary) across all financial sectors went up KRW2.8 trillion in May 2023, which rose for the second consecutive month. Financial authorities will closely monitor trends in household debt and work to ensure stable management of household loans. (Overall) Household loans across all financial sectors rose KRW2.8 trillion in May 2023, but the year-on-year growth rate edged down 1.4 percent, showing a continuous trend of declining balance on year since November 2021. (By Type) Mortgage loans grew at a faster pace for the third consecutive month and other types of loans declined at a slower rate for three month in a row. Mortgage loans went up KRW3.6 trillion, despite a decline of KRW0.6 trillion in the nonbanking sector, as banks saw an increase of KRW4.3 trillion. Other types of loans fell KRW0.8 trillion as both the banking and nonbanking sectors saw a drop of KRW0.02 trillion and KRW0.8 trillion each. (By Sector) Household loans rose in the banking sector but fell in the nonbanking sector. Household loans in the banking sector increased KRW4.2 trillion in May, edging up for the second straight month. Mortgage loans from banks grew KRW4.3 trillion, despite a drop in jeonse loans (down KRW0.6 trillion), as the volume of policy mortgage loans (up KRW2.8 trillion), general individual mortgage loans (up KRW2.0 trillion) and group lending for new apartment subscription (up KRW0.1 trillion) increased. Other types of loans in the banking sector declined (down KRW0.02 trillion) at a slower pace compared to a month ago (down KRW0.5 trillion) as credit loans expanded from a fall in the previous month (down KRW0.6 trillionup KRW0.03 trillion). Nonbanks saw a drop of KRW1.4 trillion in household loans with slight increases in the insurance (up KRW0.4 trillion) and specialized credit finance (up KRW0.4 trillion) sectors but declines in mutual finance (down KRW2.2 trillion) and savings banks (down KRW0.03 trillion). The pace of declin
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Jun 08, 2023
- KRX Derivatives Market to Open 15 Minutes Early Starting from July 31
- Financial authorities announced that the derivatives market, which currently opens at the same hour as stock markets, will open fifteen minutes early at 8:45 am beginning on July 31. The Financial Services Commission, the Financial Supervisory Service and the Korea Exchange announced the plan at a seminar held on the topic of strengthening the global competitiveness of financial investment business on June 8. The need and the plan for early opening was discussed at the second such seminar held in April this year. At that time, FSC Vice Chairman Kim So-young said that the derivatives markets early opening will help ease price volatility in stock market at opening hours and improve global consistency. Since its launch in 1996, the opening hour for derivatives market has remained the same as the opening hour of stock markets. Prices determined in the derivatives market reflect various expectations from market participants about the future prices of underlying assets (price discovery function). However, unlike in overseas markets, Korea has the same opening hour for both the spot market and futures market, which has made it difficult for stock investors to discover prices of derivatives products during the early hours of stock trading sessions. Also, due to the same opening hour, price volatility has been high in stock market especially at the time of market opening (for about fifteen minutes) as adjustments needed to take place in the futures market prior to the stock market opening are directly reflected in stock prices. In this regard, to help ease stock markets early-hour price volatility, financial authorities and the KRX plan to move up the derivatives markets opening hour fifteen minutes from 9:00 am currently to 8:45 am in line with international standards. Thus, the normal trading hours will be extended by fifteen minutes (from 9:00~15:45 currently to 8:45~15:45) and the single-price auction hours will be reduced by fifteen minutes (from 8:30~9:00 currently to