À̹ÌÁö È®´ë South Korea¡¯s sovereign fund Korea Investment Corp. (KIC) sold up all its holdings in Bank of America (BoA) shares it has held since 2008 without losing any money after it recouped most of its earlier losses.
According to KIC and sources from the financial investment industry on Friday, KIC unloaded its entire 69 million shares in BoA, recording about 3 percent investment return.
In January 2008, KIC purchased $2 billion worth shares of Merrill Lynch, then one of the three major investment banks in the U.S. Right after the purchase, the bank had been driven to near bankruptcy amid the global financial crisis before it was acquired by BoA in September 2008.
The losses on the investment once amounted to 2 trillion won ($1.8 billion) as the value of the stocks plunged to $3 per share in February 2009 from $27 when the fund had bought them.
The fund has been under fire for the huge investment failure and once was subject to inspection by the nation¡¯s Board of Audit and Inspection. It initiated the process to sell its entire stake in the bank as the shares almost recovered their value after U.S. President Donald Trump took office.
By Han Woo-ram and Choi Mira
[¨Ï Pulse by Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]