In Brief: Chase to Join Committee for Daewoo Debt

Chase Manhattan Corp has agreed to join the banking committee being set up to sort out more than $5 billion in loans owed to foreign banks by Daewoo Group of South Korea.

Chase and Amsterdam-based ABN Amro NV are among the first nine banks to be asked to participate. Others are HSBC Holdings PLC, National Australia Bank Ltd., Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi Ltd., Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank Ltd., UBS AG, ARAB Bank, and Citigroup.

Daewoo has already defaulted on several payments, including $10 million to France's Natexi Banques Populaires group and $5 million to an unidentified U.S. bank.

A spokesman for Chase in New York declined to disclose how much Daewoo owed the bank. Sources said the committee needs approval from 200 foreign creditors of the conglomerate before it can negotiate a debt restructuring. James R. Kraus

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