* HSBC Holding, Britain’s largest bank, said...
Associated Press
* HSBC Holding, Britain’s largest bank, said it would buy a 70% stake in SeoulBank, one of South Korea’s six largest commercial banks, for $900 million. HSBC would pay $200 million to the Korean government and $700 million to recapitalize the bank. HSBC would be allowed to sell SeoulBank’s bad loans--estimated at $2.4 billion--to South Korea at the final closing of the deal on May 31. HSBC also would be able to sell an unlimited amount of new bad loans for a year after the deal closes.
