SKorea watchdog starts review of HSBC bid for bank

0 Comments | AFP, August, 2008

SEOUL (AFP) — South Korea's financial watchdog said Monday it has started a long-delayed review of HSBC's bid to buy Korea Exchange Bank (KEB), after the global giant submitted updated documents on the deal.

Financial Services Commission chief Jun Kwang-Woo said the regulatory review began on August 18 but declined to say whether the watchdog would approve the six-billion-dollar deal to buy a 51 percent stake in KEB from Lone Star.

"It is difficult to predict its outcome and direction," he told reporters.

HSBC agreed last September to buy Lone Star's stake in KEB, the country's fifth largest lender.

But the watchdog withheld approval, citing legal disputes over the US buyout fund's 2003 purchase of the Korean bank.

The commission resumed its...