(South Korea) – Nine Korean credit card companies, including leading players Kookmin Credit Card and Samsung Card, have announced the completion of the second stage of restructuring on the back of a government bail out for the country’s cards industry.The nine firms said they would raise a total of 4.55 trillion won (US$3.6 billion) in capital in an effort to defuse the liquidity concerns of investors. They also unveiled belt-tightening measures, such as job cuts, branch closures and asset sales.
Samsung Card says it has postponed its planned sharemarket listing to concentrate on the capital raising.