Emergency Meeting with 15 Bank Deputy Governors
Request for Cooperation on Financial Support for Small Businesses Including Extension of 'Prepayment Loan' Deadlines
The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) requested cooperation from banks to support small business financing in order to prevent the spread of unsettled payment issues involving e-commerce companies Wemakeprice (WEMAKEPRICE) and TMON.
According to the financial sector on the 26th, the FSS held an emergency meeting chaired by Deputy Director Park Chung-hyun, in charge of banking, with vice presidents from 15 domestic banks to assess the situation in the banking sector and discuss follow-up measures regarding the WEMAKEPRICE and TMON incidents.
Some banks have temporarily suspended advance payment loans due to the delayed settlements by WEMAKEPRICE and TMON. Advance payment loans are structured so that vendors on online sales platforms receive loans from banks before the platform settles the sales proceeds, and later the banks collect the settlement funds from the platform to repay the loans. The scale of advance payment loans in the banking sector is known to be about 110 billion KRW, involving approximately 360 vendors.
At the meeting, Deputy Director Park requested banks to extend deadlines and grant repayment deferrals for small business owners in relation to advance payment loan handling. This measure aims to prevent liquidity shortages among small business owners caused by the WEMAKEPRICE and TMON incidents. Banks reportedly responded that they would actively cooperate in supporting affected small business owners.
Meanwhile, on the same day, KB Kookmin Bank began offering support measures such as deadline extensions, principal and interest repayment deferrals, and interest rate reductions for small business owners who have received advance payment loans.
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