S. Korea's Electronic Securities Transactions Fall 17.9 Pct in Q1

South Korea's electronic securities transactions dipped 17.9 percent in the first quarter from the previous three months as stumbling stock markets led to less trade, the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) said Friday.

According to the FSS, the volume of online securities transactions reached 1,427 trillion won (1.41 trillion U.S. dollars) in the January-March period, compared with 1,739 trillion won from three month earlier.

The country's online securities trading fell as the stock market suffered losses, dented by a global credit crunch, the South Korean financial watchdog said. Brokerage houses' commission income sharply decreased as customers shifted their money to banks with cheaper commission.

The FSS said its commission income declined by 25.5 percent on- quarter to 396.1 billion won in the first quarter.

Meanwhile, the volume of online financial transactions at 18 local and foreign lenders, including Internet and mobile phone banking, reached 2,792 trillion won, up 0.4 percent from the previous quarter, the FSS added.

Source: CRIEnglish