U.S. private equity fund Lone Star [LS.UL] plans to resume selling its 51 percent stake in Korea Exchange Bank (004940.KS), worth 4.4 trillion won ($3.89 billion) at current market prices, the South Korean bank said on Wednesday.

"(Lone Star) notified our board members today that they would resume selling the stake," a KEB spokeswoman said, adding that they would soon start selecting lead managers for the deal, which will be offered to domestic and foreign investors.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Chances of a broad overhaul of U.S. financial regulation dimmed on Thursday after bipartisan Senate talks collapsed, helping boost bank share prices and jeopardizing a top Obama administration priority. [Read the full article]

Korea Exchange Bank said Wednesday its biggest shareholder, private equity group Lone Star Funds, is renewing efforts to sell its majority stake in a prospective deal that has long been hampered by legal and political constraints.

The U.S.-based buyout fund took over Korea Exchange Bank in late 2003 when it was in financial trouble by purchasing a majority stake for about 1.4 trillion won ($1.2 billion).

Lone Star, however, has been blocked from unloading its stake amid long-running allegations of shady dealings when it acquired KEB, one of South Korea's five biggest lenders.

A local appeals court in late December cleared a former finance ministry official and a former KEB chief of charges they helped Lone Star buy KEB for a bargain price by conspiring to understate the lender's value.

KEB chief executive Larry Klane told the bank's board Wednesday that Lone Star would make another attempt to sell the lender, said bank spokeswoman Kwon Sang-mi. [Read the full article]