Korean regulators push banks to take on losses

SEOUL: South Korean regulators ordered some local banks and brokerages to take on 100% of the losses on a hedge fund’s investments in illiquid assets as officials crack down on the selling of complex financial products to retail investors.

The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), the nation’s top financial watchdog, will push to have the firms cancel contracts on some funds run by Lime Asset Management Co, a hedge fund in Seoul that once oversaw US$4bil in assets, and return the money to investors, according to a statement on Wednesday.