Korea's Financial Supervisory Service has issued a warning to BNP Paribas in Seoul for charging above market pricing on an interest rate swap with a Korean counterparty. The investigation centered on a swap BNP entered last month with Shinhan Card Co. on the back of a EUR300 million (USD352 million) asset-backed security the Korean credit card company issued, for which BNP was also the underwriter. Choi Sung-Ho, spokesman at Shinhan Financial, said the firm was unaware of any warning by the FSS to BNP, declining further comment.
BNP has temporarily suspended Cheoll Ho Ghim, head of the interest rate derivatives group in Seoul. "Everything is clear now," said Dong Soon Park, an official in the bank examination department at the FSS in Seoul. Calls to BNP were referred to Virginie Ourceyre, a spokeswoman in Hong Kong, who did not respond to messages by press time. Ghim, reached via his mobile phone, declined all comment.
BNP is the single largest shareholder in Shinhan Card Co.'s parent, Shinhan Financial Group Co.
