KBank to give added risk protection for exporters

The bank believes that at least 30 per cent of foreign financialinstitute counterparties should be classified as high risk.

And as the country's fourthlargest bank forecasts international trade will soon be cut at least in half, it will also help exporters seek new markets.

Pattanapong Tansomboon, senior vice president for global business development, yesterday said many foreign banks that allowed Thai business people to open letters of credit with them were suffering from liquidity problems. KBank needs to take care of its customers by classifying foreign banks according to risk level. It would warn customers when they have any transaction with those banks.

"We classify foreign financial institutions that we have contact with regarding their risk level by using our own analysis because we don't trust the creditrating agencies," he said.

"We have our own staff to evaluate a bank's capital, management ability, shareholders, government support and other factors, in order to protect our customers from counterparty and revenuevolatility risk," he said.

When KBank customers want to make any financial transaction with a highrisk bank, it will inform them and recommend they change to a better one. In addition, it will limit the quantity and types of transactions with foreign banks by considering their risk.

Besides risk management, KBank will provide a business-matching service for its customers.

It has already provided such a service for Thai customers with Japanese and South Korean business people. Next year, it will expand the service to Middle East and Eastern Europe countries, such as the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Qatar, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland, with which the trade value with Thailand is growing by more than 15 per cent a year.