Banks Worried About Their Losses

Banks are worried about the massive size of their deficits they will face in December.
They are busy accumulating money to cover their losses.
Banks were not that concerned before as they wrote off bad debts at one time.
However, stricter standards for balance sheets compelled them to take account of their snowballing debt.
Until last year banks were required to hold 1% of their total assets to cover losses but that has increased to 20% this year.
Bad bonds due to the current economic turbulence have taken their toll on the entire financial sector.
The loss of four major banks this year is expected to cost nearly 10 billion dollars.
However medium size banks such as Hana, Kookmin, Korea Housing, Hanmi and Shinhan will be able to reserve more money through trimming expenses and employee benefits.
Kookmin Bank forecasted a 100 million dollar surplus this year, but that may be slightly high and subject to changing circumstances.