FSC follows court’s ruling to publicize U.S. fund’s eligibility
The Financial Services Commission has made public its records on Lone Star Funds in the eight years since the regulator approved the fund’s takeover of Korea Exchange Bank in 2003.
On Thursday, the FSC sent related documents on Lone Star to the civic group Solidarity for Economic Reform.
The documents involve the regulator’s ruling as to whether the U.S.-based fund was eligible to own KEB between September 2003 and June 2006.
After a four-year-long suit between the FSC and the civic group, the Supreme Court -- in its Nov. 24 verdict -- ordered the FSC and the Financial Supervisory Service, an executive arm of the FSC, to reveal the records.
The FSC, which lost the original trial in 2007 and the second trial in 2009 in a lawsuit filed by SER, appealed to the highest court two years ago. The regulator has now lost its final case.
“It will take about several days for us to fully analyze the documents,” a researcher at SER said. “We plan to unveil our stance next week.”
An FSC spokesman has said that the regulatory 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 and June 2006.
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, he said the issue will be unveiled later.
The nation’s banking laws ban an investor with non-financial assets exceeding 2 trillion won from controlling a Korean bank.
Further, there is a speculation that the U.S. fund recently sold off the golf courses following criticism from ruling and opposition lawmakers as well as the KEB union in Korea.
Meanwhile, financial regulators are suspected of fabricating documents on Lone Star Funds in 2003, according to a TV news report.
At least over the past few months, the FSC (then the Financial Supervisory Commission) has argued that the records, submitted by an accounting firm, prove that Lone Star was eligible to own a Korean bank.
But the documents were allegedly drawn up by financial authorities -- the FSC or the FSS -- not by the accounting firm Samjong KPMG, the news report said.
By Kim Yon-se (kys@heraldcorp.com)
<한글 기사>
론스타 문건 8년만에 공개
금융당국이 보유하고 있던 론스타 심사문건이 마침내 공개됐다. 금융위원회(당시 금융감독위원회)가 지난 2003년 9월 론스타의 외환은행 인수를 승인한지 8년 3개월만의 일이다.
금융위와 금융감독원은 15일 2003년부터 2006년 6월말까지의 론스타 대주주적격성 심사자료를 경제개혁연대에 제출했다.
경제개혁연대는 이를 자체 분석한 뒤 이르면 다음주께 견해를 피력할 계획이다.
논란의 핵심은 론스타가 외환은행을 인수할 당시 또는 그 이후로 국내 은행을 소유할 수 있는 금융자본(금융주력자)에 속했는지의 여부다.
금융위 관계자는 “만약 당시에 금융당국이 산업자본 (비금융주력자)이라고 판단했다면 이미 뭔가 조처를 취했을 것”이라고 밝힌 바 있다.
현재 금융당국은 2006년 7월 이후의 론스타의 대주주적격성 검토도 진행 중인 것으로 알려졌다.
대법원은 지난 11월 24일 금융당국에 론스타 심사 “자료의 일부를 공개하라”고 판결한 원심을 확정했다. 지난 2007년 경제개혁연대가 제기한 정보공개거부처분취소 소송에서 금융당국은 1심과 2심 판결에 불복, 항소한 바 있다.
(김연세 김주연 기자)
