KAMCO'S Huge Accomplishments

State-run asset management firm plays huge role in boosting health of economy by managing state and bad assets


Chairman Chang young-chul of Korea Asset Management Corp.

Korea Asset Management Corp. has been focusing on an effective clean up of non-performing assets of financial companies and support the normalization of the operations of those firms in danger of going belly up, thus contributing to the health of the national economy, Chairman Chang Young-chul said in his speech before the National Policy Committee of the National Assembly on April 15.
The company quickly took over bad assets of the companies that went through the financial restructuring to clean them up to upgrade their financial health and support the restructuring of business firms with financial conditions.
KAMCO has been doing its utmost as an integrated asset management company, a safety pin for the national economy, by selling the assets foreclosed for unpaid taxes and for effective management of national assets thus stabilizing the public livelihood and recovery of the individual credit conditions.
KAMCO has taken over bad debts totaling 13.7 trillion won during 2008 and up until March this year, when the global financial crisis began to take place, which breaks down to 5.9 trillion won with the company's own funds and 7.8 trillion won with the restructuring fund. In the early stages of the financial crisis, KAMCO quickly took over project financing debts, a factor that contributed to the financial deterioration of the finance companies's health thus, preempting the crisis from spreading further.
The company also took over project financing debts of savings and loan banks amounting to 5.8 trillion won, although the economic conditions recovered following 2010. This year, too, KAMCO will boost the health of financial firms through their debt take over and restructuring to do its role of a safety pin for the financial market to the hilt.
The company will use 4.5 trillion won from the restructuring fund and take over PF debts and corporate debts from banks at the right time to support their financial restructuring, the chairman said.
The company will also take over bad home loans with its own funds amounting to 800 billion won.
From April, 2009, KAMCO has been buying vessels from shipping firms under the shipping industry restructuring and strengthening its competitive power in support of solving the shipping firms liquidity problems.
In 2009, the company bought 18 vessels for 231.1 billion won and in 2010, the company continue to buy vessels, eight vessels for 127 billion won in the year. This year, too, the company will buy ships watching the shipping firms's liquidity and market trends.
KAMCO has also been providing its help to individuals totaling 1.29 million with poor credit ratings through its credit recovery welfare support program since 1998 and since September, 2008, the company set up the Credit Recovery Fund to step up its support to the financial poor individuals.
With the fund, KAMCO has been able to support 180,000 individuals to ease their debt burden through restructuring of debts as of March. The company helped some 40,000 individuals to replace their high-interest loans from savings and loan banks with loans from commercial banks at lower interest rates. The company has also been helping the individuals having hard time meeting their living expenses due to their heavy loan interest with loans to ease their problems.
KAMCO has also been supporting individuals who have heavy loads of financial obligations to be financially independent and so far the company provided some 20 billion won to them.
The number of commercial banks providing loans to replace high-interest loans for the financially depleted individuals has been expanded to 16 from six and the company intends to expand its support to those individuals to help them to be financially independent.
KAMCO will also cooperative relations with local autonomous governments to expand the beneficiary of the company's financial support program for the poor.
Under the revised State Asset Law in March, KAMCO has been taking care of managing state assets and the company will do its best to boost the health of national treasury by managing the development support funds and state bonds delayed payments well. KAMCO will do its best to manage state assets with the knowhow it accumulated in the past years of operation and also will expand its state asset management to assets owned by local autonomous governments to create value-added portions of publicly owned assets. nw

Photo on courtesy of KAMCO