Court orders regulators to disclose KEB documents

SEOUL, Jan. 14 (Yonhap) -- A Seoul court ordered financial regulators Wednesday to disclose parts of an eligibility review of U.S. equity firm Long Star Fund's ownership of Korea Exchange Bank (KEB) to a civic group.

The Seoul Administrative Court ordered the Financial Supervisory Commission and
the Financial Supervisory Service to disclose 20 sets of documents related to the
U.S. company's eligibility as the largest shareholder of Korea Exchange Bank
(KEB) to Solidarity for Economic Reform.
Lone Star's 2003 takeover of KEB was investigated by prosecutors on suspicion
that former regulators and bank officials colluded to "artificially" understate
KEB's financial health to help the U.S. firm purchase the lender at a
below-market price.
A court decision in November 2008 cleared the officials of charges, but
prosecutors have said they plan to appeal. The takeover was then approved on
condition that KEB be screened regularly over its shareholder constituency.
The civic group filed a lawsuit against regulators after being denied access to
the financial screening papers on grounds that revealing them would interfere
with an ongoing separate lawsuit on the legitimacy of the fund's bank ownership.
"We do not see how the disclosure of information can affect the court's
deliberation," the ruling judge said, adding that the disclosure fulfills the
people's right to know and secures transparency.
odissy@yna.co.kr
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