Hana Bank to Refund 100% Principal to Lime Trade Finance Fund Investors

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Min-young] Hana Bank has decided to accept the Financial Supervisory Service's dispute mediation proposal for full compensation of the principal invested in the Lime Trade Finance Fund (Pluto TF-1).

According to Hana Bank on the 27th, the bank's board of directors held a meeting in the afternoon and agreed to fully compensate the principal to investors of the Lime Asset Management Trade Finance Fund.

Hana Bank stated, "Despite ongoing legal procedures such as prosecution investigations and criminal trials related to this fund, we decided to accept the Financial Supervisory Service's dispute mediation committee proposal considering the need for a prompt investor protection plan for customers."

They added, "This reflects Hana Bank's continuous commitment to investor protection measures and is a magnanimous decision by the bank, prioritizing customer protection."

FSS Orders Full Principal Refund

Earlier in June, the FSS dispute mediation committee issued a proposal requiring sellers to refund the full principal to investors of the Lime Asset Management Trade Finance Fund on the grounds of 'contract cancellation due to mistake.' The sales amounts of the Lime Trade Finance Fund reached a total of 161.1 billion KRW, including 65 billion KRW by Woori Bank, 36.4 billion KRW by Hana Bank, 42.5 billion KRW by Shinhan Investment Corp., and 9.1 billion KRW by Mirae Asset Daewoo.

This is the first time a '100% principal compensation plan' has been decided in a dispute mediation involving financial investment products.

Initially, the FSS set a deadline of the 27th of last month for acceptance, but extended the deadline to this day following requests from sellers for careful review.

Hana Bank Likely to Engage in Legal Battles with Lime Asset Management and Others

Hana Bank has announced plans for legal action against the asset management company and others. The bank stated, "The FSS investigation revealed that the asset management company Lime and swap securities company Shinhan Financial Investment concealed the insolvency of the Lime Trade Finance Fund and sold it, and since a criminal trial is underway on charges of fraud under criminal law, we plan to actively pursue legal actions such as subrogation claims and damages claims against the related companies."

On the same day, the bank's board also prepared additional customer protection measures for the Discovery Fund and Italy Healthcare Fund, where large principal losses are expected. They decided to advance 50% of the prepaid amount to Discovery Fund investors and 70% to Italy Healthcare Fund investors. This is a preemptive measure to protect customers, considering that it will take a considerable amount of time to confirm the fund losses.

Hana Bank stated, "We have resolved to implement a proactive protection plan that will be finally settled at the time of the fund's liquidation and will proceed swiftly."

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