Ever since Korea succumbed to the East Asian economic crisis in 1997, its financial sector has been restructuring itself in accordance with the terms of an IMF bail-out package, in addition to meeting urgent domestic banking needs. All this is taking place in the context of an international convergence of supervisory standards in the banking industry, spearheaded by the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) and the "Core Principles" of the Basel Committee for Bank Supervision. This nexus of events makes the current reform of Korean banking laws of special significance as an example...