Lee & Ko acted as legal advisors to the China Construction Bank (Seoul Branch) in May 2014 in connection with its establishment of a foreign currency CD Program. Specifically, the China Construction Bank (Seoul Branch) carried out a CD issuance, totaling USD 2 billion on May 22, 2014. In this regard, this is the first time that such a CD program was established by the Korean branch of a foreign bank. Prior to such a pioneering issuance, despite the absence of any express prohibitions in the relevant statutory/regulatory provisions, the general perception was that the issuance of such securities by a foreign bank through its branch in Korea would not be permitted. However, based on a thorough and carefully prepared line of reasoning and analysis, Lee & Ko was able to provide the legal clarity necessary to serve as the foundation for moving forward with the issuance within the Korean regulatory framework and, in the process, establish an important market precedent that other foreign banking institutions can follow to diversify their methods and sources for procuring funding.