RPT-S.Korea firms put $433 mln into Bear Stearns

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SEOUL, March 18 (Reuters) - Total investments by South Korean financial companies in former Wall Street giant Bear Stearns BSC.N stand at 443.1 billion won ($432.7 million), financial regulators said on Tuesday.

JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) late on Sunday said it would buy Bear Stearns for a rock-bottom price of $2 a share, one of the biggest casualties yet in the widening credit crunch that has slammed global markets. ($1=1023.9 Won)

(Reporting by Kim Yeon-hee and Marie-France Han; Editing by Keiron Henderson)