S Korea's corporate financing grows amid low borrowing cost

South Korea's corporate financing through the issuance of stocks and bonds grew in 2019 as corporate bond sale increased amid the low borrowing cost, financial watchdog data showed.

Corporate financing, which includes the sale of stocks and bonds, amounted to 175.5 trillion won (149.2 billion U.S. dollars) in 2019, up 3.3 percent from the previous year, according to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS).

Equity financing, through the initial public offering and the rights issuance, tumbled 40.2 percent to 5.3 trillion won (4.5 billion U.S. dollars) on weak demand for the rights issuance.

Debt financing advanced 5.8 percent to 170.2 trillion won (144.7 billion U.S. dollars) last year amid the record-low interest rate.

The country's central bank cut its benchmark interest rate from 1.75 percent to 1.50 percent in July last year, before lowering it further to a record low of 1.25 percent in October 2019.

Bonds, issued by industrial companies, soared 27.1 percent over the year to 45.3 trillion won (38.5 billion U.S. dollars) in 2019 for the main purposes of business operation and refinancing.

Debts, sold by financial companies, rose 0.7 percent to 109.9 trillion won (93.4 billion U.S. dollars), but the issuance of asset- backed securities (ABS) declined 7.2 percent to 15 trillion won (12.8 billion U.S. dollars).

Germany's biggest lender Deutsche Bank said Friday it had recruited former foreign minister and Social Democratic Party ( SPD) leader Sigmar Gabriel to join its supervisory board.

"With his wealth of experience, having served as environment minister, economic affairs minister and foreign minister, Sigmar Gabriel will make a unique contribution," supervisory board chief Paul Achleitner said in a statement.

For his part, Gabriel welcomed "the opportunity and the responsibility to help shape the future of the German and European economy" at Deutsche Bank.

The lender has spent years struggling to overcome the aftershocks of the financial crisis and sector- wide headwinds like the European Central Bank's negative interest rates policy.

In October, it reported losses in the first three quarters of 2019 of 3.9 billion euros ($4.3 billion), placing it on course for one of its worst annual results ever.

Chief executive Christian Sewing has thrown the bank into a massive restructuring, retreating from some flagship business areas like share trading to refocus on Europe and Deutsche's corporate banking arm.

Gabriel was SPD leader from 2009 to 2017, a period that saw the once-proud centre-left force decline sharply in the polls.

On Friday, just 14 percent of respondents to a survey by public broadcaster ARD said they would vote for the party in a federal election.