Open Decision Ledger · Economic crime
Breach of Trust in Funding an Affiliate and the Risk of Loss from Providing New Funds to Repay Previously Guaranteed Debt, and Matched Orders Orchestrated by an Intermediary Entity
Translated from the Korean original. Read the Korean
Supreme Court, Sept. 26, 2013, 2013Do5214 (judgment)
Case name: 특정경제범죄가중처벌등에관한법률위반(횡령)[피고인1,피고인2에대하여각일부예비적죄명및피고인5,피고인6에대하여각예비적죄명:특정경제범죄가중처벌등에관한법률위반(배임)]·특정경제범죄가중처벌등에관한법률위반(배임)(피고인2에대하여일부인정된죄명:업무상배임)·업무상횡령(예비적죄명:업무상배임)·특정범죄가중처벌등에관한법률위반(조세)·독점규제및공정거래에관한법률위반·조세범처벌법위반·증권거래법위반·자본시장과금융투자업에관한법률위반·공무집행방해교사·증거인멸·증거인멸교사·공무집행방해
Official text on the National Law Information Center
Question
Is a company officer who lent funds or provided a payment guarantee to an affiliate that had lost the ability to repay, without taking any adequate measures to recover the claims, liable for breach of trust?
Holding
If a person, knowing that another had already lost the ability to repay debts, lent funds or provided a payment guarantee, or recklessly made loans without adequate and reasonable measures for claim recovery such as sufficient collateral, this constitutes an act of breach of trust, and the fact that the other party is an affiliate makes no difference. However, the Supreme Court stated that the provision of new funds or collateral for use in repaying previously guaranteed debt cannot be regarded as having created a new risk of loss separate from the previously guaranteed debt.
Summary of the holding, verbatim
그와 같은 자금대여나 지급보증은 타인에게 이익을 얻게 하고 회사에 손해를 가하는 행위로서 회사에 대하여 배임행위가 되고, 이러한 이치는 그 타인이 자금지원 회사의 계열회사라 하여 달라지지 않는다.
Unofficial English translation
Such lending of funds or provision of a payment guarantee is an act of allowing another person to obtain a profit while causing loss to the company, and thus constitutes an act of breach of trust against the company, and this reasoning does not change merely because such other person is an affiliate of the company providing the funds.
Disposition
Partly reversed and remanded Stated in the decision
이 부분 사건을 서울고등법원에 환송한다.
Unofficial English translation
This portion of the case is remanded to the Seoul High Court.
Form of the test
Elements stated Stated in the decision
상당하고도 합리적인 채권회수조치를 취하지 아니한 채 만연히 대여해 주었다면
Unofficial English translation
if he or she indiscriminately made the loan without taking reasonable and rational debt recovery measures
Factors
- 경영상의 판단에 이르게 된 경위와 동기, 판단대상인 사업의 내용
- 기업이 처한 경제적 상황, 손실발생의 개연성과 이익획득의 개연성
- 충분한 담보를 제공받는 등 상당하고도 합리적인 채권회수조치
- 매도인과 매수인을 지배·장악하는 주체가 있어
Unofficial English translation
• The circumstances and motives that led to the business judgment, and the content of the business that was the subject of the judgment
• The economic situation faced by the enterprise, the likelihood of loss occurring and the likelihood of profit being obtained
• Reasonable and rational debt recovery measures, such as obtaining sufficient collateral
• Where there is an entity that dominates and controls both the seller and the buyer
Relation to precedent
Follows earlier decisions Stated in the decision
대법원 2010. 10. 28. 선고 2009도1149 판결
Unofficial English translation
Supreme Court Decision 2009Do1149 decided October 28, 2010
Decisions referred to
[1] 대법원 1998. 12. 8. 선고 98도3051 판결(공1999상, 177) / [2][3] 대법원 2010. 10. 28. 선고 2009도1149 판결(공2010하, 2207) / [2] 대법원 2004. 7. 22. 선고 2002도4229 판결(공2004하, 1480), 대법원 2007. 9. 7. 선고 2007도3373 판결, 대법원 2012. 6. 14. 선고 2012도1283 판결(공2012하, 1266) / [3] 대법원 2009. 7. 23. 선고 2007도541 판결(공2009하, 1454), 대법원 2010. 11. 25. 선고 2009도9144 판결
Burden of proof
Not addressed Not in the decision
Open question and revisit condition
Where only part of the new funds was used to repay the previously guaranteed debt and the remainder was used for other purposes, in what scope is the risk of new loss arising recognized?
If Supreme Court precedents concerning the risk of loss or business judgment under the offense of breach of trust change, or if the matched orders provision of Article 176 of the Financial Investment Services and Capital Markets Act is amended, this reading will be checked again.
Cross-family AI independent reading & axis check
8 of 8 axes matched GPT-6 Astra (OpenAI, codex CLI) · 2026-10-16
Compared with the independent reading by another affiliated AI (GPT-6 Astra), which read only the original text without seeing the first reading, all 8 axes matched.
Raw responses and comparison record: Protocol · Blind readings (JSONL) · Axis comparison (JSONL) · SHA-256 (JSON)
Lower-court contrast & scope of application
Lower-court reading vs. Supreme Court holding
Lower-court context: The court below (Seoul High Court, 2012No2794) found the evasion of capital gains tax arising from trading in nominee-held shares guilty only as to acquisitions made on or after January 1, 1999, and found guilty the submission of false materials in violation of the Monopoly Regulation and Fair Trade Act that omitted 4 affiliates. It treated as matched orders the act of Defendant 2 instructing both the seller and the purchaser so that trading in the shares of Non-indicted Company 3 took place, and found the subsidiary facts of the indictment guilty. The court below's specific findings and the reasons for reversal regarding the breach of trust in connection with the provision of linked funds and the payment guarantee are not confirmed in the earlier part of the provided reasons.
Supreme Court standard: While agreeing with the court below's findings on tax evasion, the violation of the Monopoly Regulation and Fair Trade Act, and matched orders, the Supreme Court stated that matched orders also include cases in which an entity positioned in between that dominated and controlled both sides planned and orchestrated the transaction. It set forth the legal principles on the criteria for establishing breach of trust in lending funds to and providing payment guarantees for an affiliate, and on the denial of the risk of loss in providing new funds to repay previously guaranteed debt, and reversed and remanded the portions of Defendant 1 found guilty in part, the guilty portions of Defendants 2, 3, and 7, and the not guilty portions concerning embezzlement in connection with the payment of advance money, while dismissing the remainder of the final appeals.
Distinguishing conditions
- A case where the affiliate that received the funds had the ability to repay, or adequate and reasonable measures for claim recovery were taken, such as securing sufficient collateral
- A case where the new funds were used for purposes other than repaying the previously guaranteed debt, creating a risk of loss separate from the previously guaranteed debt
- A case where transactions were concluded at the same time and at the same price without any entity that planned and orchestrated the sale and purchase together
Record verification notes
Before asserting that support for an affiliate constitutes breach of trust, check from the Records whether the counterparty had the ability to repay at the time of the support and whether collateral was secured or other reasonable claim-recovery measures were taken, what debt repayment the new funds were actually used for, and whether the fact of the support was concealed through accounting treatment.
From the official text
Points at issue
[1] 구 증권거래법 제188조의4 제1항 제1호, 제2호에서 금지하고 있는 시장조작행위의 일종인 ‘통정매매’의 의미 및 매도인과 매수인을 지배·장악하는 주체가 양자의 거래가 체결되도록 주도적으로 기획·조종한 결과 실제 매매가 체결되는 경우가 통정매매에 포함되는지 여부(적극) [2] 회사의 이사 등이 계열회사에 회사자금을 대여하거나 계열회사의 채무를 회사 이름으로 지급보증하면서 상당하고도 합리적인 채권회수조치를 취하지 아니한 경우 배임죄가 성립하는지 여부(적극) 및 경영상의 판단에 대한 배임죄의 고의 유무를 판단하는 기준 [3] 보증인이 변제자력이 없는 피보증인에게 신규자금을 제공하거나 신규자금 차용에 관한 담보를 제공하면서 이미 보증한 채무의 변제에 사용되도록 한 경우, 새로이 손해 발생의 위험을 초래한 것으로 볼 수 있는지 여부(소극)
Unofficial English translation
[1] Meaning of 'matched orders,' a type of market manipulation prohibited by subparagraphs 1 and 2 of Article 188-4 (1) of the former Securities and Exchange Act, and whether cases where, as a result of an entity that dominates and controls both the seller and the buyer having principally planned and manipulated matters so that transactions between the parties were concluded, an actual sale and purchase is concluded, are included in matched orders (affirmative) [2] Where a director, etc. of a company lends company funds to an affiliate company or provides a payment guarantee in the name of the company for the debts of an affiliate company, without taking reasonable and rational debt recovery measures, whether the offense of breach of trust is established (affirmative), and the criteria for determining whether there is intent for the offense of breach of trust with respect to business judgment [3] Where a guarantor provides new funds to a guaranteed obligor who lacks repayment capacity, or provides collateral for the borrowing of new funds, while arranging for such funds to be used for the repayment of debts already guaranteed, whether it may be regarded as having newly created a risk of loss (negative)
Summary of the holding
[1] 구 증권거래법(2007. 8. 3. 법률 제8635호 자본시장과 금융투자업에 관한 법률 부칙 제2조로 폐지) 제188조의4 제1항 제1호 및 제2호에서 금지하고 있는 시장조작행위의 일종인 통정매매란, 상장유가증권 또는 협회중개시장에 등록된 유가증권의 매매거래에 관하여 양 당사자가 미리 통정한 후 동일 유가증권에 대하여 같은 시기에 같은 가격으로 매수 또는 매도하는 행위인데, 이러한 통정매매는 반드시 매도인과 매수인 사이에 직접적인 협의가 이루어져야 하는 것은 아니고 그 중간에 매도인과 매수인을 지배·장악하는 주체가 있어 그가 양자 사이의 거래가 체결되도록 주도적으로 기획·조종한 결과 실제 매매가 체결되는 경우도 포함한다고 해석함이 타당하다. [2] 회사의 이사 등이 타인에게 회사자금을 대여하거나 타인의 채무를 회사 이름으로 지급보증함에 있어 그 타인이 이미 채무변제능력을 상실하여 그를 위하여 자금을 대여하거나 지급보증을 할 경우 회사에 손해가 발생하리라는 점을 충분히 알면서 이에 나아갔거나, 충분한 담보를 제공받는 등 상당하고도 합리적인 채권회수조치를 취하지 아니한 채 만연히 대여해 주었다면, 그와 같은 자금대여나 지급보증은 타인에게 이익을 얻게 하고 회사에 손해를 가하는 행위로서 회사에 대하여 배임행위가 되고, 이러한 이치는 그 타인이 자금지원 회사의 계열회사라 하여 달라지지 않는다. 한편 경영상의 판단을 이유로 배임죄의 고의를 인정할 수 있는지는 문제된 경영상의 판단에 이르게 된 경위와 동기, 판단대상인 사업의 내용, 기업이 처한 경제적 상황, 손실발생의 개연성과 이익획득의 개연성 등 제반 사정에 비추어 자기 또는 제3자가 재산상 이익을 취득한다는 인식과 본인에게 손해를 가한다는 인식하의 의도적 행위임이 인정되는 경우인지에 따라 개별적으로 판단하여야 한다. [3] 이미 타인의 채무에 대하여 보증을 하였는데, 피보증인이 변제자력이 없어 결국 보증인이 보증채무를 이행하게 될 우려가 있고, 보증인이 피보증인에게 신규로 자금을 제공하거나 피보증인이 신규로 자금을 차용하는 데 담보를 제공하면서 그 신규자금이 이미 보증을 한 채무의 변제에 사용되도록 한 경우라면, 보증인으로서는 기보증채무와 별도로 새로 손해를 발생시킬 위험을 초래한 것이라고 볼 수 없다.
Order
원심판결 중 피고인 1의 2007년 양도소득세 포탈에 따른 조세범 처벌법 위반 부분 및 각 독점규제 및 공정거래에 관한 법률 위반 부분을 제외한 나머지 유죄 부분, 피고인 2, 피고인 3, 피고인 7의 유죄 부분과 피고인 1, 피고인 2, 피고인 3에 대한 무죄 부분 중 공소외 1 주식회사의 선수금 지급 관련 특정경제범죄 가중처벌 등에 관한 법률 위반(횡령) 부분을 각 파기하고, 이 부분 사건을 서울고등법원에 환송한다. 피고인 1의 원심판결 유죄 부분 중 2007년 양도소득세 포탈에 따른 조세범 처벌법 위반 부분 및 각 독점규제 및 공정거래에 관한 법률 위반 부분에 대한 상고와 피고인 4, 피고인 5, 피고인 6, 피고인 9, 피고인 11, 피고인 12, 피고인 13, 피고인 14의 상고, 검사의 피고인 5, 피고인 6, 피고인 7, 피고인 8, 피고인 9, 피고인 10에 대한 상고 및 피고인 1, 피고인 2, 피고인 3에 대한 나머지 상고를 모두 기각한다.
Unofficial English translation
The portions of the judgment of the court below finding Defendant 1 guilty, excluding the portion concerning the violation of the Punishment of Tax Offenses Act arising from evasion of 2007 capital gains tax and the respective portions concerning violations of the Monopoly Regulation and Fair Trade Act, the portions finding Defendants 2, 3, and 7 guilty, and, among the portions finding Defendants 1, 2, and 3 not guilty, the portions concerning the violation of the Act on the Aggravated Punishment, etc. of Specific Economic Crimes (embezzlement) related to the payment of advance payments by Non-indicted 1 Co., Ltd., are each reversed, and this portion of the case is remanded to the Seoul High Court. The appeals of Defendant 1 from the portions of the judgment of the court below finding him guilty, concerning the violation of the Punishment of Tax Offenses Act arising from evasion of 2007 capital gains tax and the respective violations of the Monopoly Regulation and Fair Trade Act, the appeals of Defendants 4, 5, 6, 9, 11, 12, 13, and 14, the appeals of the prosecutor against Defendants 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10, and the remaining appeals of Defendants 1, 2, and 3 are all dismissed.
Provisions referred to
[1] 구 증권거래법(2007. 8. 3. 법률 제8635호 자본시장과 금융투자업에 관한 법률 부칙 제2조로 폐지) 제188조의4 제1항 제1호, 제2호(현행 자본시장과 금융투자업에 관한 법률 제176조 제1항 제1호, 제2호 참조), 제207조의2(현행 자본시장과 금융투자업에 관한 법률 제443조 참조) [2] 형법 제355조 제2항, 제356조 [3] 형법 제355조 제2항, 제356조
Read 2026-10-16 · Cross-read 2026-10-16. All quotes matched against the official text. The Chinese-character placeholders the court used for anonymised parties are given in their Korean readings, and parenthetical Chinese-character glosses are omitted.
Every entry is published only after all quotes have been matched character by character against the official text, and audited by an independent second reading from a different model family across all eight axes. Both agreed axes and text-grounded interpretive divergences are recorded openly. The ledger is a research record, not an assessment of the court or advice on any matter.
Back to the ledger