프로젝트 파이낸스 대출에 관한 저축은행 이사의 손해배상책임

The Supreme Court of Korea handed down a decision on the liability of a mutual savings bank director regarding a project finance loan on October 13, 2011,the first decision of its kind in Korea. In this noteworthy decision, the Court remanded the part of the lower court decision, pointing out that the evaluation of the director, prior to the offer of the loan, on the feasibility of the real estate development project at issue was not thorough enough, even though the Court recognized that this case fell into the scope of a business judgment rule. This decision is likely to serve as a significant reference point in the future director's liability cases regarding a project finance loan. In this case, however, the appropriateness of the business judgment was at issue while no illegal acts of the director was found. Business judgment itself can be subject to judicial scrutiny, but only with prudence. Closely looking into the case with this principle in mind, it seems that the director's liability could have been denied under the spirit of the business judgment rule. Therefore, the holding of the case should not be made leniently applicable to other cases of this kind so that the delicate balance between the spirit of enterpreneurism and the spirit of the rule of law can be achieved. Key Words : project finance, bank, loan, director's liability, business judgment