Asia: Kamco
Last July the Korean Asset Management Corporation (Kamco) disposed of Korean non-performing loans through an asset-backed securitization (ABS) structure that won awards from most of the leading financial magazines, including Euromoney.
| Korea is the leading Asian expert on securitizing NPLs |
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The $367 million, nine-year notes were three times oversubscribed and incorporated some very complex structures to securitize 135 dollar- and yen-denominated corporate loans. The transaction had been rightly hailed as a milestone for the Korean economy which has to deal with its mounting NPLs.
But the ABS deal has done even more good. By catapulting Kamco into the limelight of ABS expertise, it attracted the interest of other government agencies and led to unprecedented cooperation between them. Last November Kamco hosted the first Non-performing Loan Forum for Asia Pacific issuers in Seoul, where 15 countries from Asia and emerging Europe discussed ways to resolve NPLs and exchanged ideas and experiences.