신종자본증권 발행자와 투자자의 회계처리에 대한 사례연구- 두산인프라코어(주)를 중심으로

Hybrid bonds are securities that simultaneously feature stock and corporate bond characteristics. Doosan Infracore Co., Ltd. recently became the first to issue hybrid bonds and a growing number of other Korean companies are following suit. Under K-GAAP, which places importance on legal form, since a hybrid bond has the appearance of a bond, it is classified as debt in the issuer’s accounting. Under K-IFRS, which emphasizes economic substance, if a hybrid bond has equity characteristics according to its contract terms, then it must be classified as equity in the accounting, and if not, then treated as debt. Since a hybrid bond has both equity and debt characteristics, however, we cannot apply an across-the-board account classification for it. Accordingly, there was much controversy regarding the accounting for Doosan Infracore that first issued hybrid bonds following the adoption of K-IFRS. The final conclusion on this case determined that the company’s hybrid bonds can be classified as non-voting equity. From the perspective of Doosan Infracore, the classification of the hybrid bonds as non-voting equity allows the company to increase equity without impacting its corporate governance structure while lowering its debt ratio, and since the interest on the hybrid bonds is classified as a cost, it also gains advantage in the form of corporate tax reduction. This study examined the main items of controversy regarding the account classification of the hybrid bonds issued by Doosan Infracore and investigated the decision making process leading up to the conclusion classifying these securities as equity. The study also analyzed the impact of the accounting classification on the financial ratios, such as the debt ratio and the ratio of owner’s equity, which indicate corporate soundness. When the hybrid bonds issued by Doosan Infracore are classified as equity under K-IFRS, compared to when they are classified as debt, the debt ratio and the borrowings and bonds payable ratio are reduced and the ratio of owner’s equity is improved. With the hybrid bonds classified as equity in accounting, investors treat them as equity securities among financial products. According to the financial product standard ‘IFRS 9’, which will be newly applied, the cumulative gain and loss on valuation of security are not recognized in the profits and losses for the current term but treated as retained earnings, and as such, equity securities have no impact on business performance. Furthermore, since equity securities have a higher likelihood of recognizing asset impairment losses than debt securities while in holding, for investors this is in some ways disadvantageous. In particular, because the financial supervisory agency is requiring financial institutions, which are the biggest beneficiaries of hybrid bonds, to set aside more owner’s equity for calculating the capital adequacy ratio with respect to equity securities, the demand for hybrid bonds is sharply waning.