The Financial Supervisory Service said on the 26th that 42 corporations were selected for the "main debtor group," a category for corporations with heavy debt that must undergo financial soundness assessments by their main creditor banks.
Under the banking supervision regulations, a main debtor group refers to a group of corporations whose total borrowings at the end of the previous year are at least 0.1% of nominal gross domestic product from two years prior, and whose outstanding bank credit at the end of the previous year is at least 0.075% of all bank credit to corporations at the end of two years prior. The main creditor bank that primarily conducts transaction with a corporation designated as a main debtor group must evaluate the corporation's financial structure and, if necessary, enter into a financial structure improvement agreement to manage credit risk.
The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) annually selects affiliate groups with total borrowings and bank credit above certain thresholds as main debtor groups. According to the FSS, four corporations were newly included in this year's main debtor group: Sinokor Merchant Marine, SK Shipping, Hoban, and Dongkuk Steel Mill. Three corporations—Eugene, E-Land Group, and Aekyung—were excluded from the main debtor group.
The number of main debtor group corporations increased from 41 last year to 42 this year. The 42 corporations in this year's main debtor group have total borrowings of at least 2.5569 trillion won and outstanding bank credit exceeding 1.5032 trillion won.
Samsung had the most debt among the main debtor groups. Samsung rose from No. 3 last year to No. 1 this year. Hyundai Motor ranked No. 2 again this year, the same as last year. SK fell from No. 1 to No. 3, and Lotte, LG, and Hanwha each remained at Nos. 4, 5, and 6, respectively, as last year.
The number of corporations belonging to the 42 main debtor groups was 7,005, up 77 from last year's 6,928. By group, the number of corporations was highest in Hanwha (977), followed by Samsung (751), SK (719), Hyundai Motor (525), and CJ (401).
Woori Bank is the main creditor bank for the most main debtor groups, handling 11 groups including Samsung, LG, and Hanwha. Hana Bank (10), Korea Development Bank (9), Shinhan Bank (8), and KB Kookmin Bank (3) followed.