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KEB CEO Larry Klane (Yonhap News) |
Regulator says Texas buyout fund was eligible to own KEB until June 2006The Supreme Court ordered the Financial Services Commission to make public Lone Star Funds’ eligibility as the biggest shareholder of Korea Exchange Bank on Thursday.
The FSC, which lost the original trial in 2007 and the second trial in 2009 in a lawsuit filed by Solidarity for Economic Reform, appealed to the highest court two years ago. The regulator has now lost its final case.
The FSC and the Financial Supervisory Service are poised to clarify their stance on Lone Star by saying that the biggest shareholder was eligible to own KEB, at least between 2003 and June 2006.
“We will follow the court’s ruling. Our interpretation at that time was that Lone Star could not be regarded as a non-financial investor, and was eligible to own a Korean bank at least between 2003 (when the fund acquired KEB) and June 2006,” FSC spokesman Lee Byung-rhae told The Korea Herald.
He also said that “not a non-financial” investor is the same as a “financial investor.”
“If the FSC had internally ruled that Lone Star was a non-financial one at that time, the regulator would have taken punitive measures,” he said.
Concerning the speculation that Lone Star has owned 130 golf courses worth about 3.7 trillion won ($3.2 billion) in Japan since at least 2005, hinting at it being a non-financial investor, the spokesman said the issue will not be addressed in the coming announcement following the court’s verdict.
He added that the speculation may be resolved later when the FSS, an executive arm of the FSC, completes its probe.
The nation’s banking laws ban an investor with non-financial assets exceeding 2 trillion won from controlling a Korean bank.
Further, speculation recently arose that the U.S. fund is moving to sell the golf courses following criticism from ruling and opposition lawmakers as well as the KEB union in Korea.
Civic groups continued to say that, depending on the verdict, Lone Star’s acquisition of KEB in 2003 could be regarded as invalid and the fund’s preliminary deal with Hana Financial Group to trade KEB shares could also be nullified.
But as the FSC is set to claim that the fund was a financial investor until June 2006, it is expected that arguments and protests will continue.
On Wednesday, a group of small shareholders of KEB filed an injunction with the Constitutional Court to suspend the FSC’s Nov. 18 action on the fund.
The FSC only considered an earlier verdict that the fund manipulated stocks of KEB’s credit affiliate and ordered it to sell most of its KEB shares to any investor.
Lawmaker and civic groups demanded the regulator reveal the shareholder eligibility before taking action on the U.S. fund.
Meanwhile, the FSS launched an investigation into KEB as the bank rejected the regulators’ instruction to dismiss three board members engaged in stock manipulation.
By Kim Yon-se and Cynthia J. Kim
(
kys@heraldcorp.com) (
cynthiak@heraldcorp.com)
<한글기사>
[단독] 금융위, “론스타 금융자본으로 판단했었다”
금융위원회는 24일 외환은행 대주주인 론스타에 대해 2003년부터 2006년까지 당시의 관료들이 금융자본으로 판단했음을 증빙할 자료를 곧 공개할 방침이라고 밝혔다.
이날 “론스타의 대주주 적격성 심사자료를 공개하라”는 대법원 판결에 대해 이병래 금융위 대변인은 “관련 절차를 거쳐 조속한 시일 내에 공개할 예정”이라며 “금융당국은 론스타가 적어도 외환은행 인수 당시인 2003년부터 2006년 6월말까지는 비금융주력자가 아니었다고 판단했던 것으로 본다”고 말했다.
그는 “비금융주력자(산업자본)가 아니라는 말은 곧 금융주력자(금융자본)라는 말과 같다”고 말했다.
그는 또 “만약 당시에 금융당국이 산업자본이라고 판단했다면 뭔가 조처를 취했을 것”이라고 말했다.
이 대변인은 론스타의 일본 골프장 소유 논란 및 산업자본 의혹에 대해선 금융감독원이 조사 중이라며 법원 판결에 따른 정보공개에선 포함되지 않을 것으로 내다봤다.
금융위는 대법원으로부터 명령이행 방법 등이 담긴 송달장을 받는대로 공개시기를 결정할 것으로 알려졌다.
이날 대법원 판결에 따라 금융당국은 지난 2007년 금융위 및 금감원을 상대로 정보공개거부처분 취소소송을 제기해 일부 승소 확정판결을 이끌어 낸 경제개혁연대에 론스타 관련 자료를 제출해야 한다.
한편, 정치권 및 외환은행 노조 등은 론스타의 골프장 소유를 지적하며 최소한 2005년도 이후로 비금융주력자였음이 이미 드러났다고 주장하고 있다.
(김연세, 김주연 기자) (kys@heraldcorp.com) (cynthiak@heraldcorp.com)
