Finance

KB Financial to expand investment in advanced industries with 150 billion won unicorn fund

KB Financial Group is expanding financial support for advanced strategic industries including semiconductors, physical AI and AI data centres. It plans to shift corporate credit reviews away from past financial results toward assessments of technology and growth potential. The group also plans to form a 150 billion won fund to nurture unicorns, fully funded by KB affiliates and managed by KB Securities, to invest in AI, semiconductors and other sectors.

Finance

Four major financial groups\' net profit tops 11 trillion won, competition shifts from banks to capital markets

South Korea’s four major financial holding groups posted combined first-half net profit of 11.34 trillion won, up 9.8 percent from a year earlier, helped by steady interest income and rising fee income from capital-market businesses such as securities, wealth management and investment banking. As non-bank earnings contributions expanded, the competitive focus among groups increasingly shifted to capital markets. In banking, Shinhan Bank led in net profit, while Woori Bank was the only one to decline.