SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - South Korea's financial regulator urged state-owned Korea Development Bank on Monday to be cautious over any investment in Lehman Brothers.
Korea Development Bank "should be very prudent in its approach to acquiring Lehman given the condition of financial markets at home and abroad and that it has not yet been privatized," Jun Kwang-woo, chairman of the Financial Services Commission, told reporters.
Jun's comments came amid weeks of intense speculation that Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., the fourth-largest U.S. investment bank, could try and reach a deal for a capital injection.
Analysts project that Lehman, considered vulnerable to the credit crisis, could post losses of up to $4 billion when it reports third-quarter results this month and may announce a deal to raise fresh capital to help offset the losses.
Shares of Lehman fell in morning trading in New York, down $2.10 to $14.10.
KDB Governor Min Euoo-sung said last Tuesday the bank, which the government plans to privatize, is in talks with Lehman over a possible acquisition and was trying to establish a consortium with private banks toward that end. It was unclear how big a stake KDB was seeking.
South Korea's Chosun Ilbo newspaper reported Wednesday that KDB has made a proposal to acquire 25 percent of Lehman. KDB did not comment last week on that report.
KDB said Monday it had no comment on Jun's remarks.
Min also said last week that talks with Lehman had hit a snag over price and that the two sides had been unable to narrow differences. Min was CEO of Lehman Brothers' South Korean operations until taking the helm of KDB earlier this year.
Jun, the FSC chief, last month questioned whether a state-run institution should take the lead role in such an acquisition, saying that was best left to the private sector.
Those remarks caused speculation in South Korea that the regulator was cool to the idea of KDB embarking on a deal by itself.
So far, no major South Korean banks have come out and said they are interested in participating in a purchase.
Any deal involving KDB or other South Korean banks would require regulatory approval.
Jun also praised KDB on Monday for its approach to Lehman, calling it an "active and enterprising attempt to raise KDB's value in the process of its privatization and to stretch itself to become a global investment bank within a short period."
Over the weekend, Japan's Yomiuri newspaper reported that the country's largest brokerage group, Nomura Holdings Inc., is considering buying a stake in Lehman Brothers. Nomura has funds exceeding $1.87 billion for investment in U.S. and European financial institutions and is considering Lehman as one of its investment candidates, Nomura President Kenichi Watanabe was quoted as saying.
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Associated Press Writer Jae-hyun Jeong contributed to this report. |