The court of Japan judged that a director of savings bank was in violation of a duty of care
and then liable to excessive investment in bonds. During the period of 1996 to 1997, a director
of savings bank solely decided to make an investment in the Asian bonds. The Asian bonds
included both the bonds which Asia Investment International Limited issued and the bonds
which Peregrine Investment Holdings Limited issued. The investment in the Asian bonds,
however, was very risky and excessive.
By the way, after financial crisis of 1997 happened, value of the Asian bonds dropped
sharply. As a result of depreciation of the Asian bonds, the savings bank suffered a great loss
and then went bankrupt. So, RCC sued the director of savings bank for damages on the
grounds of violation of a duty of care.
In general, many cases that proved liability of a financial institution director were related
to improper lending practices in the Japanese court. For example, a director made large loans
without adequately examining the financial condition of companies and individuals. In
addition, he violated the lending limit under the relevant law. So, most large loans turned out
to be bad.
But, the court of Japan analyzed and judged legal problems over risky investment in bonds
in this case. The court applied a rule of credit line on same borrowers to this case and then
decided that a director of financial institutions should obey both a duty of safety and a duty of avoiding excessive risk-taking from the viewpoint of public interest.
Likewise, this judgment of the Japanese court over risky investment in bonds may be
conducive to judgement of the Korean court that deals with legal issues over risky investment
in bonds which a financial institution makes. In addition, in Korea a director of financial
institutions should obey both a duty of safety and a duty of avoiding excessive risk-taking as
the contents of a duty of care from the viewpoint of public interest.