BOK chief nominee's heavy overseas assets raise eyebrows

Bank of Korea Gov. nominee Shin Hyun-song heads to his office in central Seoul, Monday. Yonhap

Bank of Korea (BOK) Gov. nominee Shin Hyun-song drew scrutiny Monday over his sizable overseas assets, which could raise potential conflicts of interest as he prepares to oversee foreign exchange policy.

According to data submitted to the National Assembly ahead of his confirmation hearing, Shin reported total family assets of 8.24 billion won ($5.46 million), including his own holdings, along with those of his spouse and their son. Of that, 4.57 billion won, or 55.5 percent, are overseas financial assets and real estate.

Excluding real estate, Shin's financial assets totaled about 4.6 billion won, with roughly 98 percent held abroad. The portfolio includes deposits in U.S. dollars, British pounds and euros, as well as U.K. government bonds.

Shin's heavy ratio of foreign assets appears to stem from his decades-long career abroad, including academic posts at Oxford University, the London School of Economics and Princeton University, as well as his latest role as an economic adviser at the Bank for International Settlements.

Still, the structure of his assets is expected to face close scrutiny during the confirmation process.

As a large share of his assets is held in foreign currencies, their value rises when the Korean currency weakens against the dollar — a sensitivity that could lead to controversy, given that stabilizing the foreign exchange market will be a key task for the incoming central bank governor.

The Korean currency has hovered around the 1,500-per-dollar level in recent trading days, as uncertainty in the Middle East weighs on the foreign exchange market.

Shin's property holdings are also likely to emerge as a point of contention during the parliamentary hearing.

He owns two homes in Seoul, including an apartment in the affluent Gangnam District valued at about 1.5 billion won and an officetel (multipurpose studio apartment) in Jongno District worth 1.8 billion won. His spouse jointly owns an apartment in Illinois with their son, valued at about 285 million won.

His status as someone who owns multiple homes may draw scrutiny as the Lee Jae Myung administration pushes aggressive real estate policies, urging owners of multiple homes to sell their property ahead of the planned expiration of capital gains tax relief on May 9.

The president himself has moved to sell his apartment in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, and has ordered that officials who own multiple homes be excluded from housing policy discussions.

A BOK official said Shin has recently put his officetel up for sale and that there are plans to sell the U.S. property as well.

Shin's confirmation hearing is expected as early as next week, with incumbent Gov. Rhee Chang-yong's term set to end April 20.