To Be Creditor or To Be Shareholder, That Is the Question: Is the Debt-For-Equity Swap Creditors’ Financial Suicide?

This Article deals with debt-for-equity swap-related issues in Korean corporate restructuring procedures. Debt-for-equity swaps were widely employed during the Latin American foreign debt restructuring process, but the Korean case is slightly different. Because the creditors of reorganizing corporations are mainly Korean domestic financial institutions rather than foreign creditors, this type of financial scheme is applied under local law. The following examines the legal aspects of debt-for-equity swaps, which have been promoted as a way to eliminate excessive insolvent loans and financial debts (and stood in the way of restructuring, via IMF bail-out funds).

It also discusses how a debt-for-equity swap is handled in the corporate reorganization process.