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OK Financial Group, which promised to 'withdraw from the lending business,' changes affiliate names and business purposes

[비즈한국] It has been confirmed that Yellow Capital Loan and H&H Financial Loan have changed their names and added new business purposes. Both companies are affiliates of OK Financial Group under the Fair Trade Act. OK Financial Group recently announced that Yellow Capital Loan and H&H Financial Loan would withdraw from the lending business. However, the legal entities have not actually been liquidated, and it appears they are seeking new business ventures.

OK Financial Group acquired Yeju Savings Bank and Yenarae Savings Bank in 2014. Subsequently, Yeju Savings Bank and Yenarae Savings Bank merged to create the current OK Savings Bank. At the time of the acquisition of Yeju Savings Bank and Yenarae Savings Bank, OK Financial Group promised financial authorities that it would withdraw from the lending business.

However, during the National Assembly's National Policy Committee audit last October, allegations were raised that OK Financial Group was indirectly operating lending businesses. This was because Choi Ho, the younger brother of OK Financial Group Chairman Choi Yoon, holds a 100% stake in Be Collect Loan and a 100% stake in Yellow Capital Loan. Be Collect Loan also holds a 94.92% stake in H&H Financial Loan. Be Collect Loan, Yellow Capital Loan, and H&H Financial Loan are all companies engaged in the lending business. However, it is reported that only Yellow Capital Loan and H&H Financial Loan were effectively in operation.

During the national audit last October, Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Hyun-jung stated, "OK Financial Group is operating two lending companies," adding, "The Fair Trade Commission has officially disclosed that (Yellow Capital Loan and H&H Financial Loan) belong to the same large business group." In response to these concerns, Financial Supervisory Service Governor Lee Bok-hyun replied, "I think there are areas that need to be looked at closely."

As the controversy erupted, OK Financial Group announced that it would proceed with the liquidation of Yellow Capital Loan and H&H Financial Loan. However, BizHankook's investigation revealed that while it is true that the two companies withdrew from the lending business, the legal entities have not been liquidated. On December 31 of last year, Yellow Capital Loan changed its name to Proidea Holdings, and on the same day, H&H Financial Loan changed its name to H&H.

In reality, liquidating a legal entity is not a simple matter. As of the end of 2023, the total assets of Proidea Holdings and H&H amounted to 103.3 billion won and 43.6 billion won, respectively. It is reported that their performing loans were transferred to OK Savings Bank. Nevertheless, it is not easy to settle tens of billions of won in assets overnight. For this reason, there is speculation that instead of liquidating the Proidea Holdings and H&H entities, they will be utilized to pursue other businesses.

So far, there has been no significant movement from Proidea Holdings and H&H. Visiting the old websites of Yellow Capital Loan or H&H Financial Loan only reveals a message stating, "We will be revamping our website starting January 2, 2025," and "We will do our best for better service and customer convenience."

Proidea Holdings and H&H recently removed content related to the lending business from their business purposes. Instead, Proidea Holdings added △credit finance business, △financial consulting, △asset securitization business, and △rental business for lease objects to its business purposes. H&H also added the same business purposes as Proidea Holdings, including △credit finance business, △financial support services, △asset securitization business, and △rental business for lease objects. This suggests that even if they withdraw from the lending business, they intend to continue financial-related operations.

However, OK Financial Group has not issued an official position regarding the two entities. An official from OK Financial Group stated, "Proidea Holdings and H&H are only disclosed as affiliates under the Fair Trade Act; we are not involved in their actual management, so it is difficult for us to know the internal details."