Most savings banks' financial statuses judged as sound: regulator

SEOUL, May 16 (Yonhap) -- Most savings banks in South Korea are judged to be financially sound amid growing worries that their financial statuses might have deteriorated due to increased bad debts, the country's financial regulator said Monday.
According to the Financial Supervisory Service, the capital adequacy ratios of 25 savings banks in the country topped the minimum of 5 percent.
"Their exposures to the construction sector are still high, but their financial statuses are judged to be sound," said an official at the regulator.
A total of eight savings banks had their operations suspended earlier this year for their insufficient capital bases stemming from soured project financing loans.
Seven suspended savings banks are expected to be put up for auction unless they replenish their capital bases by mid-June.
In a bid to salvage the troubled savings bank industry, the regulator unveiled plans last month to set up a bad bank to clear their distressed property loans and pump in taxpayer money in order to bolster their capital base.
sam@yna.co.kr