February 26, 2021

• 
• 
• 

EDITOR'S PICKS

• Markets 
  

  Watchdog orders banks to compensate investors for damages from Lime misselling

  　South Korea’s financial watchdog on Feb. 24 ordered two Korean commercial banks -- Woori Bank and the Industrial Bank of Korea -- to compensate end-investors for at least half of the damages they incurred in a 1.7 trillion won ($1.5 billion) misselling scandal involving now-defunct hedge fund Lime Asset Management. 　The authorities held the banks accountable for “poor efforts in the exercise of their duties to protect investors” when they sold nearly 300 billion won worth of

• The Investor 
  

  National Pension Service gains W72tr for 2020

  South Korea’s public pension fund, the National Pension Service, has logged a 9.7 percent return last year to gain 72.1 trillion won ($65 billion) in its preliminary estimate, the government said Feb. 24. Health Minister Kwon Deok-chul, who chairs NPS’ Fund Management Committee, added that the world’s third-largest pension fund was managing 833.7 trillion won worth of assets as of end-2020, in a committee meeting held in Seoul. The estimate will be finalized in June, according

• Markets 
  

  Provisioning, relief measures to support S. Korean banks’ performance: Fitch

  　US credit rating agency Fitch Ratings said on Wednesday that the near-term performance of South Korea‘s four major banks will be supported by loan-loss provisioning already made in 2020 and sustained relief measures introduced by the regulator. 　The pressure on their financial profiles, however, may persist as the ramification of last year’s pandemic-induced recession is likely to linger and affect the banks‘ asset quality and profitability, according to the company. 　&ldqu

• Markets 
  

  Once-hot P2P lending industry faces tough road ahead

  　Peer-to-peer lending platforms that were once the talk of the town are facing a myriad of challenges amid ongoing litigation and tougher regulations, highlighted by a lawsuit against Tera Funding, experts said on Feb. 23. 　Tera Funding is facing another class action from investors who are unhappy with delayed payments and loss of investments. This is the second time the company has had to deal with a lawsuit since August 2020 when a group of 500 investors took the company to the court, allegi

• Markets 
  

  SK Bioscience seeks up to W1.5tr in blockbuster IPO

  　SK Bioscience, the vaccines unit of South Korea’s No. 3 conglomerate SK Group, said Feb. 23 it looks to raise up to some 1.49 trillion won ($1.34 billion) in fresh funds via an initial public offering on the nation’s benchmark Kospi bourse. 　While its market debut is scheduled for next month, the vaccine producer seeks to issue 22.95 million shares in a price band of 49,000-65,000 won. The exact share price will be determined after the book building process before retail investors

• Markets 
  

  S. Korean unicorns take big leap with greater global presence

  　Going global has been a long shot for many South Korean startups despite their advanced services and products. But planned stock listings and mergers and acquisitions of Korean unicorns, including those for Coupang, Woowa Brothers and Hyperconnect, are raising expectations for local companies to grow their international reach. 　“The series of recent mega-deals made in the startup sector here have moved the value of the entire Korean ecosystem up a notch,” said Lim Jung-wook, chief

• Markets 
  

  [News Focus] Power struggle? FSC, BOK bicker over revision of payment settlement law

     Tension between the nation’s financial regulator and the central bank are escalating over which institution should hold a supervisory authority in the area of online payment settlements emerging as a key financial transaction method in the era of digital economy. 　Payment settlement is the process through which a merchant receives money paid by customers for a particular product or service. 　Responding to increased demand for online payment settlements, the FSC proposed the

• Markets 
  

  US-based NeoImmuneTech eyes W96b IPO in Korea

  　NeoImmuneTech, a US immunotherapy drug development company, said on Feb. 22, 2021 that it was looking to raise as much as 96 billion won ($86.9 million) in fresh funds via an initial public offering on the South Korean bourse next month. 　Under the plan to be listed on Korea’s tech-heavy Kosdaq, NeoImmuneTech seeks to issue 15 million depository receipts in a price band between 5,400 won and 6,400 won. The exact share price will be determined through a book-building process for instituti