[단독]Delayed liquidation due to suspension of redemption… KB Securities Edition Trade Finance Fund DLS, Loss Growing

As KB Securities sold 100 billion won worth of trade finance fund derivative-linked securities (DLS), the liquidation of DLS is delayed, raising concerns about investor losses. Over 200 investors are having a sleepless day in fear of not being able to find the principal, let alone profit, for the ninth month after the redemption was stopped in April of last year.

According to KB Securities on the 11th, the’KB able DLS Trust (TA Insured Trade Finance)’ product sold by the company, worth 100 billion won, failed to repay maturity in April and went into liquidation on June 15.

This product is a DLS product made by a trade finance fund invested in trade receivables of import and export companies by Hong Kong management company TransAsia (TA) as an underlying asset. It was issued by NH Investment & Securities and sold as a trust in KB Securities in 2019. This product was able to expect a 4% annual rate of return by paying the principal amount of the trade price and interest from the provision of trade finance when the trade transaction was conducted normally.

However, due to the new coronavirus infection (Corona 19) pandemic (a global pandemic), global trade stagnated, and the recovery of funds was put on hold. When the lending companies (borrowers) were unable to escape from the liquidity crisis, the manager eventually decided to liquidate the fund.

Liquidation is the settlement of the fund by selling the incorporated assets after assessing the asset value through due diligence by Bakery, a Hong Kong-based accounting firm. Only when the results of the due diligence come out can the asset recovery and investment loss be confirmed. Looking at the’clearance procedure schedule’ obtained by the JoongAng Ilbo from KB Securities customers, TA promised to end the liquidation procedure on October 12 last year after completing due diligence by early September of last year and reviewing legal documents, but the fund has not yet been liquidated. Did.

As the redemption was stopped and the liquidation work was delayed, loopholes in the product emerged one by one.

The seller emphasized that the product is a product that only invests (loans) in assets that are guaranteed principal by a global insurance company with an international credit rating of’A-‘ or higher. However, as the Corona 19 incident broke out, the insurance function did not work properly. This is because insurance companies are reluctant to pay insurance money because Corona 19 is a’natural disaster’. Eventually, there was no choice but to have a legal battle over insurance payments. The result is that neither the seller nor the issuer can accurately verify the fund’s insurance company subscription details.

A financial company PB, who requested anonymity, said, “Because of the nature of the private equity fund, we do not disclose not only the investment target (company) but also whether it is properly insured, so we have to trust only the manager.” It’s a problem to sell.”

Although it is a product with high investment risk, about half of subscribers are known to be bank customers with a stable investment tendency. A bank and a securities company signed up through KB Financial Group’s WM (Asset Management) complex.

An official from KB Securities said, “This product (trade financing fund DLS) was rumored to be a product that could safely generate 4% profit, and competition for attracting was fierce at the beginning.” “In particular, with the introduction of bank private bankers (PBs) at complex stores. Customers who sign up through brokerage employees in the same store will account for half of all investors.”

It is interpreted that the pressure on the “additional point (synergy score)”, a performance evaluation system (KPI) item for each branch, was applied to the bank employee’s introduction of the bank customer to the securities company employee of the complex store to induce product subscription. KB Finance reinforced a win-win strategy between banks and securities companies by increasing the number of complex stores from 14 in 2015 to 81 at the end of the third quarter of last year. In particular, the synergy score increases when products are sold through customer introductions between affiliates.

The damage caused by inducing customers to subscribe to dangerous products in order to achieve business results without thorough verification of the product went to consumers who subscribed to the store, trusting only the seller. Mr. K (65 years old), who invested 300 million won in this product in 2019, said, “I signed up because it said that I could safely get 4% profits even if I left it for one year. It’s a retirement fund that my wife secretly invested, and it burns every day. Goes. I want to get the principal back as soon as possible.”

Issuers and vendors are responding lukewarmly. An official from NH Securities that issued the fund said, “We are considering various measures such as litigation review because the liquidation procedure did not go as planned.”

Reporter Yeom Ji-hyun [email protected]