Hong Kong ELS Victims Hold Surprise Press Conference Following Meeting Between Lee Bok-hyun and Bank President

"Let the Victims Also Talk with the Korea Federation of Banks"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

On the 18th, Lee Bok-hyun, Governor of the Financial Supervisory Service, is scheduled to meet with heads of major domestic banks to exchange opinions on the large-scale loss incident involving Hong Kong H Index (Hang Seng China Enterprises Index·HSCEI) based equity-linked securities (ELS). Meanwhile, those who subscribed to the product have requested, "Please allow victims to participate in the meeting and engage in dialogue."

At a press conference titled "Nullification of Contracts in Public Financial Fraud" held at the Korea Federation of Banks in Jung-gu, Seoul, Gil Seong-ju, chairman of the Hong Kong ELS Victims' Association, stated, "The financial authorities unilaterally announced a compensation guideline without any communication with the 150,000 ELS victims." Kim Tae-gyu, external cooperation committee member of the victims' association, appealed, "We earnestly request that the chairman of the victims' association attend the meeting today as a representative to engage in dialogue."

Yang Jeong-suk, a member of the National Assembly from the Reform New Party who attended the press conference, conveyed, "Before the press conference, I met with the board of directors of the Korea Federation of Banks and heard their position, which is that nothing concrete has been decided yet and they will wait for the next dispute mediation committee." She added, "In my judgment, the dispute mediation standards proposed by the financial authorities are grossly insufficient to compensate for the damages," and further explained, "The standard that the victims and I advocate is to use the principal loss amount as the compensation amount, and the burden of proof for any deduction factors based on investment propensity and experience should lie with the banks."

During the press conference, a commotion broke out. When some victims attempted to enter the Korea Federation of Banks to join the meeting, the security chief of Namdaemun Police Station announced, "Attempting to move collectively into the Korea Federation of Banks' private property is an illegal act," and added, "If illegal acts occur, the police will conduct evidence collection for subsequent judicial processing." In response, Chairman Gil criticized, "This is the true face of the banking sector."

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