A Legal Study on the Environmental Liability of Financial Institutions and its Responses

금융기관의 환경책임과 대응방안에 대한 법적 고찰

The role of the financial institution to promote corporate sustainability may be reviewed in two angles, as a commercial lender and an investor. As a commercial lender, financial institutions should minimize the legal risks and the political risks. Financial institutions began to recognize environmental risks as legal risks that directly affect their lending practices since the legislation of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act("Superfund") of the U.S.A. The so-called lender liability rule has a detailed guideline where the financial institutions may be exempted from the Superfund Liability. Similar attempts are noticed in the recent EU White Paper on Environmental Liability. In Korea, comprehensive environmental liability laws are yet to be developed. The Soil Environment Preservation Act now includes a far-reaching environmental liability provisions, where the owners and operators as well as receivers of the facility bear responsibility. However, whether the financial institutions may be captured as a potential responsible party is not very clear. Until the relevant legislation is developed and court decisions accumulate, Korean financial institutions are well advised to raise awareness on this issue, to develop environmental policies and to train personnels.