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Officials in the ruling Uri Party and Cheong Wa Dae are reportedly contemplating voiding Korea Exchange Bank¡¯s sale to the offshore investment firm Lone Star in 2003. Board of Audit and Inspection Chairman Jeon Yun-churl became the first time high-ranking government official in a parliamentary judiciary committee meeting on Thursday to make an official comment about the possibility that Lone Star¡¯s original takeover of KEB could be annulled. The KEB trade union and civic organizations also say the original sale of KEB to Lone Star should be voided, but experts say this will be legally difficult.
¡±As part of efforts to resolve the Lone Star scandal as early as possible, some in Cheong Wa Dae are consulting experts about the possibility of canceling Lone Star¡¯s original takeover of KEB,¡± a high-ranking government official said Friday.
Kookmin Bank, the preferred bidder to take over KEB, has already put emergency measures in place to prepare for the possible cancellation of Lone Star¡¯s original takeover of KEB. The nation¡¯s largest lender came up with measures to respond to various scenarios such as when Lone Star loses its status as the bank¡¯s largest shareholder and is forced to sell all but 10 percent of its stake.
Experts, however, say it will not be easy to cancel the approval of Lone Star¡¯s original takeover of KEB in 2003 if an investigation by the prosecution and the Board of Audit and Inspection fails to prove that Lone Star or its agent were directly involved in irregularities including bribery or illegal lobbying.
But others argue that if it is confirmed that obvious mistakes were made in the process of calculating KEB¡¯s BIS capital adequacy ratio, even though it is not proved that Lone Star committed any irregularities, the Seoul Administrative Court can void the fund¡¯s takeover of KEB. Members of the KEB trade union have already filed a lawsuit with the court ealier this month asking for the Financial Supervisory Commission to annual its approval of Lone Star¡¯s acquisition of KEB.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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