South Korea’s antitrust watchdog is set to decide this month on the level of sanctions against companies that carried out illegal business transactions between affiliates, according to news reports on May 11.
Under the nation’s fair trade law, internal trading among affiliates of large companies controlled by owner families is banned as such practices have been used for benefitting chaebol scions.
The list of companies subject to penalties by the Korean Fair Trade Commission KFTC) includes Mirae Asset Daewoo, one of the nation’s top investment firms, under Mirae Asset Financial Group. The company has engaged in business activities between the affiliates of its holding firm to allegedly benefit Mirae Asset Chairman Park Hyeon-joo.
In November, the agency notified the investment firm that it would face correction orders and fines related to the illegal internal trading. But the KFTC postponed meetings to decide punishment due to the ongoing coronavirus outbreak.
Mirae Asset Daewoo joined the investment banking sector in November, 2017, but it has not been allowed to run operations to issue promissory notes as the KFTC started to begin its investigations regarding the investment firm’s illegal internal trading in December in the same year.
If the Commission files a legal complaint against Chairman Park for profiteering from the internal trading, Mirae Asset’s attempt to run the note-issuing business can be further delayed.
Full Content: The Investor
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