Hana Bank Followed by Woori Bank, Decision on Full Compensation for Lime Trade Finance Fund Deferred

Decision to "Request Extension of Decision Deadline" at Board Meeting on 24th
Earlier, Hana Bank Also Deferred Decision Citing "Need for Careful Review"

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyo-jin] Following Hana Bank, Woori Bank has also decided to request an extension of the deadline to decide whether to accept the Financial Supervisory Service's (FSS) 'full compensation recommendation' regarding consumer damages related to Lime Asset Management's trade finance fund.

With Woori Bank, which has the largest sales volume, making this decision, the compensation process for the Lime fund appears to have entered a difficult phase.

Woori Bank announced on the 24th that it held a board meeting and made this decision.

A Woori Bank official explained, "We agree that this issue is significant in terms of consumer protection and restoring trust," but added, "We plan to request an extension of the acceptance decision deadline until the next board meeting for additional fact verification and more in-depth legal review."

On the 30th of last month, the FSS Dispute Mediation Committee applied Article 109 of the Civil Act, 'Contract Cancellation Due to Mistake,' to four dispute mediation applications related to Lime trade finance funds sold since November 2018, and decided to recommend 100% compensation. This is the first time a recommendation for full principal compensation on investment products has been made. The response deadline is the 27th of this month.

The sales volume of the fund is largest at Woori Bank with 65 billion KRW. Shinhan Financial Investment has 42.5 billion KRW, Hana Bank 36.4 billion KRW, Mirae Asset Daewoo 9.1 billion KRW, and Shinyoung Securities 8.1 billion KRW, totaling 161.1 billion KRW.

Hana Bank's board on the 21st requested the FSS to extend the deadline for deciding whether to accept, stating, "If the Dispute Mediation Committee's decision is accepted, the mediation will be established and will have the same effect as a judicial settlement, so it is necessary to carefully review whether to accept."

The FSS plans to review the validity of the reasons provided by these banks and decide on acceptance. However, considering the seriousness of the matter, the FSS holds the position that the responsibility to make a prompt decision lies with the banks and other sellers.

Some voices predict a scenario similar to the KIKO dispute, where sellers continuously postpone decisions and eventually reject acceptance. Unless the sellers make a magnanimous decision, the Lime compensation case is likely to become as tangled as the KIKO case.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.