Kookmin Bank News

Kang Chung-won, CEO of Korea s largest lender Kookmin Bank, was designated as the new chairman of Kookmin Bank s mother company, KB Financial Group, despite controversy over the hiring process.

The local financial and business sectors are bracing for a wave of mergers and acquisitions as giant firms line up for sales amid the financial market recovery.

Eighteen local banks will donate 255.5 billion won in total by 2012 to the Microfinance Foundation, a state-led program which will provide unsecured loans to low-income households.

The global financial crisis last year hardly dented Kookmin Bank's leadership in the local consumer banking market.

Rising interest rates have sent the net profit of banks soaring, results out Tuesday show.

Fast ones eat slow ones.?.?. It is time for us to become a big, fast, flexible bank.

Gold is re-emerging as a hot alternative investment. The commodity surged to over $1,000 per ounce for December delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange in midday trading on Tuesday, though it pulled back and finished at $997.10 on Wednesday.

Urban planners are increasingly turning to environmental design strategies to keep their citizens safe.

Combined profit at Kookmin Bank , South Koreaa s largest, and local rivals fell 57 percent in the first half of 2009 as the nationa s economic slump forced them to more than triple provisions against bad loans.

Interest rates charged on new fixed-rate mortgages are on the rise, thanks to comments by the head of the Bank of Korea.

As the summer vacation season heats up, banks are operating temporary portable offices at popular local beaches for customer convenience - and promotion, of course.

The owner of Korea's Kookmin Bank halves its original deal size, while Singapore-listed Neptune Orient Lines says its $996 million rights offering is oversubscribed.

A third wave of cyber attacks hit government and private websites yesterday, some of which reported access disruptions or temporary paralyses.

Another distributed denial-of-service attack was launched on the Public Administration and Security Ministry's Web site yesterday, the third day of a cyber terrorist attack on the country's IT infrastructure.

The government plans to replace 'sick notes' with 'fit to work' certificates for those who can return to some form of employment Photo: PA AhnLab, a South Korean developer of anti-virus software, had forecast the virus, which hit dozens of US and Korean sites this week, would return at 6pm on Thursday and hit seven domestic sites.

The parent company of Kookmin Bank , South Korea's largest lender, has dropped four foreign investment banks as advisers to a $2bn capital-raising following a row over fees.

South Korean lenders may set up a private a oebad banka to hold troubled assets by as early as September, the head of the nationa s banking lobby group said.

Your wallet is about to get a lot lighter. Starting today, the 50,000-won bill, the largest-denominated banknote in Korea, enters circulation.

South Korea isna t ready to let banks repay money they received from a 20 trillion won state-backed fund, the nationa s financial regulator said, citing the risk of eroding investor confidence.

KB Financial Group Inc. , owner of South Koreaa s largest bank, may use some of the $2 billion it plans to raise in a rights offer to extend more loans and finance possible acquisitions once the economy picks up.